Emotional night for victorious Big Macs
Canon-McMillan basketball Coach Rick Bell hugs the Janice and Kurt Blanock, parents of Luke Blanock, at a special ceremony on Friday, December 9. Luke Blanock played for the Big Macs and died of cancer in August. At the ceremony, Canon-McMillan retired Blanock’s jersey.
Canon-McMillan retired prior teammate Luke Blanock’ss jersey Friday night. The white jersey on the left will remain at the school and the blue jersey was given to Blanock family.
Canon-McMillan’ss Britton Beachy shoots for two points in the first half against Eden Christian Friday.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Canon-McMillan’s RJ Bell works his way around Eden Christian’s Dylan Kingon during the first half of Friday night’s game.
Family members and friends of Luke Blanock watch a video memorializing BlanockþÄôs life. Canon-McMillan teacher Rob Montini shot and produced the video with a voiceover by teacher Jim Reynolds.
CANONSBURG – Their game had not yet tipped off but the Canon-McMillan High School boys basketball players already had been put through the emotional ringer on the opening night of the season.
Between games of Canon-McMillan’s tipoff tournament Friday night, the uniform number of Luke Blanock was retired and a 13-minute video about Blanock was played on the Big Macs’ new high-definition video board.
It was a touching and emotional scene for anybody who knew Blanock, the former multi-sport athlete at Canon-McMillan and this year’s Observer-Reporter Sports Headliner. Blanock died at age 19 in August after a long and courageous battle with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
Some of Blanock’s former teammates are still playing for Canon-McMillan and Big Macs head coach Rick Bell worried about how his team would handle playing a game against Eden Christian only minutes after watching the video and sitting through the ceremony.
“Rob Montini, a teacher here, who put together the video, asked if I’d like to watch it at the end of the day,” Bell said. “I choked up about halfway through it. I told Rob that I don’t want my kids seeing it for the first time five minutes before playing, so we had them watch it before practice Thursday.
“I am so grateful that he let me take a look at the video. I’m a 52-year-old guy and I got emotional. I don’t know how an adolesant could watch that and then go play basketball. That was emotional, especially for our older kids who were teammates of Luke.”
Even with the advanced screening, Bell was still worried about how his team would react after the video was shown to a largely filled gymnasium.
The Big Macs came out scorching from the field and forged a quick 14-4 lead an never trailed in an 80-43 thumping of Eden Christian, a team that won 22 games last season in Class A.
The victory sends Canon-McMillan to tonight’s 8 p.m. championship game against Latrobe, which beat Trinity in the tournament’s opening contest.
Seniors R.J. Bell and Carson Miller combined for 36 points, including 26 in the first half, when the Big Macs forged a 38-18 lead.
“We talked about what a special night this was going to be, regardless of the outcome,” Rick Bell said. “But it wouldn’t be as special if we didn’t do our job.”
R. J. Bell scored 12 points in the first quarter and Miller contributed 10 as the Big Macs took control from the start. They bombed from the perimeter and made 12 of 34 three-pointers on the night. Bell made six from behind the stripe en route to a 24-point game. Miller finished with 12 points and two threes.
“That’s our game. We have no size, but what we do have is very skilled,” Rick Bell said. “The kids have worked hard on their ball-handling skills and passing. We’re going to press and spread the floor. If we make our shots, then we can play with anyone.”
Twelve different C-M players made shots against Eden Christian, a team the Big Macs had already seen in a three-team scrimmage with Ringgold. The second time around, C-M did much better against the Warriors.
“Eden Christian is very well-coached. We knew they would sag and try to take away our driving lanes,” Rick Bell said. “I told the kids that we’d have a lot of three-point opportunities.”
Drew Engel was the only other C-M player to score in doduble figures. he came off the bench to tally 10 points, all int he fourth quarter.
Chase Haring led Eden Christian with 14 points. Drew Aiken scored 10.