OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot Chautauqua Hurricane guard Ralph Williams drives during an NABL playoff game against the DuBois Dream, last Saturday, in Brocton.

OBSERVER Staff Report

Coming off their 109-64 drubbing of the DuBois Dream, the Chautauqua Hurricane face their next roadblock on the way to Kentucky, as they take on the Lancaster Thunder tonight in Ohio for the Northeast Division championship.

The Hurricane made big strides last week in their shot at redemption this season. They were ousted in the NABL championship game last season, and the whole team is ready to take it home, this time with a new weapon.

NABL MVP nominee David Blanks is back with the Hurricane after a gap of a couple seasons, and although he only scored five points off the bench against the Dream last Saturday, he’s been the sparkplug for the Hurricane all season.

It is easy to see the dedication and commitment the Hurricane players have, and it starts with the players themselves. They’re constantly joking with each other and having fun, between every flashy behind the back pass or big 3-pointer they hit.

Hurricane head coach Jerome Moss knows his team has to play lock down defense, and most importantly, play together. It’s something the Hurricane displayed last Saturday, and something Coach Moss thinks will carry over.

The Hurricane had a large advantage last game in that they were able to run two groups of five players, making wholesale changes every time they made a substitution. The Dream, however, only had six players dressed for the whole game, leading to the Hurricane run all over DuBois. The bench pieces for the Hurricane all contributed at a high level, in addition to the starters. Ralph Williams led the Hurricane with 20 points, cashing in four 3-pointers, while Daniel Mulamba put up 14 points and 16 rebounds. The bench scored a total of 30 points, with Alex Crossan leading the way with 13, adding in six boards and a couple emphatic blocks.

Blanks said last week that the key to the success of the Hurricane is making sure they play like a team, noting that each piece of the Hurricane is incredibly talented, but when they play together, they become a hard force to stop.

The Hurricane had a strong goal entering this season — to win the whole thing. They are one step closer to achieving that goal, but the road to Kentucky has one more stop. The Hurricane take on the Thunder at 6 p.m. tonight, with the winner moving on to the semifinals next weekend.