With his team reeling late in the first half Tuesday evening, Overlea High’s Korey Blair came up big against Concordia Prep.

The sophomore knocked down a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in the first half to end a run by Concordia that trimmed a 14-point Falcons’ lead to two. Blair with three more triples early in the second half as the Falcons rolled to an 81-62 boys basketball victory at their holiday invitational in Baltimore County.

“We do a good job of finding the hot hand,” Blair said, “So when I hit shots early, my teammates did a good job of finding me and I was glad they were able to find me, and I was able to hit shots.”

While Blair provided the offensive spark in the third quarter, seniors James Robinson and Karon Pittman led an aggressive defense that forced turnovers and created transition opportunities for Overlea (5-1 overall), which dominated the period 26-16.

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Concordia Prep coach Bryan Howard said the shot that Blair hit at the end of the first half was very difficult for his team to overcome after they had fought so hard to get back in the game.

“It kind of broke our back,” Howard said. “Then the first thing coming out [of half], we turned the ball over a little bit too much. Between turning it over and transition, we just weren’t able to fight back.”

The Saints (4-5) found themselves fighting from behind all game long as the Falcons started the game hot from behind the arc. Junior Tjay Beckles knocked down a trio of treys to stake the Overlea to a 22-15 lead at the end of one.

“That’s our identity,” said Overlea coach Will Watts, whose team reached the Class 2A state semifinals last winter. “We believe in playing a fast-paced game. We like to play a fast tempo and find our shooters.”

When Beckles hit another 3 and Robinson followed with a layup in transition to make it 31-17 early in the second quarter, the Falcons looked well on the way to victory. The Saints, who play in the MIAA B Conference after winning the C title last March, had other ideas, using a 12-0 run to pull within a basket before the Falcons recovered.

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Watts expressed frustration that his team allowed Concordia Prep to claw back in the game during the second period by getting away from what made them successful.

“This was not up to our standard, so I was frustrated by that,” Watts said. “We had a couple plays where we were selfish. Not playing within that team concept that we believe in. That is where those turnovers came from. Just going away from what we normally do.”

Blair led all scorers with 19 points for Overlea, while Beckles had 18 and Pittman chipped in 15. Concordia Prep was led by Presley Prettyman with 13 points, while Cam Allen had 11.

The two-day mixer concludes Wednesday starting at 9 a.m. Concordia plays Cristo Rey at 3 p.m. while Overlea takes on Poly at 7:30 p.m.

OVERLEA INVITATIONAL

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OVERLEA 81, CONCORDIA PREP 62

Concordia Prep – Presley Prettyman 13, Cam Allen 11, Noah Robinson 9, Damon Rowlett 8, Jermaine Cane 6, Joshua King 5, Darian Hill 4, Noah Jackson 2, Kam Epps 2, Eric Johnson 2.

Overlea – Korey Blair 19, Tjay Beckles 18, Karon Pittman 15, Kevin Harris 11, James Robinson 7, Karrie Foster 5, Tyreke Thomas 4, Alijah Spires 2.

Concordia Prep 15 14 16 17 - 62

Overlea 22 14 26 19 – 81