Bocce Ball: Division III Champions

There was only one team that stayed undefeated through the winter regular season. Congratulations to the Bocce Ball team, who are MCPS Division III Champions. 

The team cruised through the regular season untouched, amassing a 5-0 record. At the Division Tournament, the team handled fourth seed, Paint Branch, and chopped down Sherwood in the Championship round.

This year’s group made history, becoming the first undefeated Bocce Ball team since Blake opened in 1998. The team will also be glad to put something on their banner in the gym as this is also their first division title in school history. 

Only one point was scored all year on the Bengals, from Magruder in the first game, and there were four consecutive matches where opposing teams did not score a single point.

This was Bocce’s first appearance in the playoffs in school history. Players on the team were glad to see their hard work at practices translate into the dominance displayed on the court.

“It’s really cool that we got to go undefeated because it shows how we put in the work,” says junior Robert Northcutt. Bocce ball has had one of the best seasons of any team at Blake this year as well as years prior. 

Northcutt expresses confidence that the team’s special season will not end but are taking it from a ‘one game at a time’ approach.“I think we have a shot at winning it all, we just need to be on our game,” he adds.

In the County Championship Tournament, the Bengals looked to continue their hot streak but fell just short in the final rounds. Saturday morning looked bright for the Bengals, handing Northwest a loss in a hard fought 8-5 match. However, in the semi-finals, the team came up just short against the eventual County Champions, Whitman. In a back and forth match ,in which our Bengals were up 4-3 in the first frame, our Bengals couldn’t overcome a 3rd frame surge in which Whitman scored 2 points and shut-out the Bengals.

The team had a very special season and we are proud of the hard work they put in as they had one of the best seasons by any Blake sport this year!