The only thing that kept Blair Estarfaa from scoring over 50 points was a second personal foul early in the second quarter.   It was the best single-game performance I have witnessed this season, and I wasn't alone in those thoughts.  "This season, between the games I've coached or watched, I haven't seen a better performance from one player" Niagara Wheatfield head coach Erik O'Bryan said afterwards.

Estarfaa dropped a career-high 42 points on O'Bryan's Falcons, to lead Maryvale to a 65-45 nonleague victory.  The game was a very intriguing one on paper, between two large schools that have posted some recent results to suggest they can be dangerous.  But this night belonged to Estarfaa, and his scoring outburst alone made it the game to be at last night.

Estarfaa scored 19 of his team's first 20 points, including 17 in the first quarter.  With 6:37 left in the second quarter, he was assessed his second foul and came out of the game.  With just 18 seconds left in the half, Estarfaa returned to the lineup and had a 3-pointer rattle in-and-out at the buzzer.  When the the buzzer was sounding to end the first quarter, he had canned a long-range bomb from beyond where a NBA line would be.

In the third quarter, Estarfaa added another 14 points, 11 of which came during a 12-0 Maryvale run that helped the Flyers blow the game open to lead 50-29 heading into the fourth.  After netting another nine points in the final stanza, Estarfaa came out of the game to a standing reception from his coaches and team.  He was given one last trip down the court to break his assistant coach, Ryan Mohr's Maryvale scoring record of 43 points, but missed his shot.

The Estarfaa show included a little bit of everything.  Blair scored the first two points of every quarter.  He drained five 3-pointers, mid-range jumpers, and battled for points in the paint.  He had a pair of Dr. J-like layups where he showed the ball on the way up, brought it down to avoid the defender, and then scooped the ball in before he finished gliding.  Nine of his 42 points came from the charity stripe.  He also grabbed seven rebounds and could have had the same in assists had his teammates been hitting their shots.

Jake Hughes led Niagara-Wheatfield with 18 points.  The 6-6 Falcon center has obviously worked hard to improve his game as he showed some nice spin moves in the post and the ability to finish.

-centercourt