Photos by J. Phalon, Jan. 2023
Tightening up the defense was Blair basketball head coach Joe Mantegna as the Buccaneers began the second half of the 2022-23 season.
Despite beating Peddie 76-65 Jan. 11, Mantegna was not happy with the defense.
“They outplayed us,” Montegna said. “They worked harder.”
Winning by 11 points was not a particular achievement as far as Mantegna was concerned when the defense left many opportunities for Peddie to score.
“We left them open for a lot of threes,” Mantegna said after the Peddie game.
But he was pleased with the play on the offensive side, he added.
“We have a talented team, and we did a good job of getting open for shots,” he said.
The 17-4 Bucs followed up their win over Peddie with an 84-81 victory over St. Benedicts Jan. 18 but came up one point short against Ramapo Jan. 22 in a 51-51 loss. They came back to beat decisively the George School 95-65.
Blair’s next home game is Feb. 15 against Covenant Prep.
Joe Phalon, Contributing Writer
Joe was lured out of retirement by the opportunity to be a part of the Ridge View Echo. During a decades-long career in publishing and journalism, he has covered government on many levels from local school boards to the United States Supreme Court.
Along the way, Joe has worked at American Lawyer Magazine, The National Law Journal and The Record among other publications, and as the Press Officer of Columbia Law School. His work has been recognized with several first place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the New Jersey Press Association.
Being part of the Ridge View Echo brings Joe back to his roots and the kind of news coverage he loves: Telling the stories of people and local communities as well as keeping an eye on how their money is spent by their government officials.
Joe lives in Blairstown with his wife Rose, the founder of Quilting for a Cause, and their two wiener dogs. He is an artist in his spare time.
