Friday, January 8, 2010

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Loe Pena, Bogota's only player with previous varsity experience, led the Bucs to a 47-29 win at Saddle River Day.

SADDLE RIVER – In Jay Mahoney’s long tenure as the Bogota boys basketball coach, one that includes two Bergen County Jamboree championships, there have been many seasons where the Bucs were simply more experienced and more talented than most of their opponents in the BCSL-Olympic Division. That is not the case this season however as Lou Pena is the only varsity player returning from last year. Mahoney knew he needed to find some leadership quickly in order to have another successful season.

When Bogota and Saddle River Day met last year, the game virtually over before it started as Bogota cruised to a 40-point win. But this year was a much different scenario as the Rebels trailed by four at halftime and were looking to pull off an upset. But when Bogota needed a spark to start the second half, the Bucs did not need to look any further than the one experienced player they had coming into the season, Pena.

The senior delivered with 10 points in a 12-0 run to start the third quarter as Bogota held off a late charge from Saddle River Day for a 47-29 that was much closer than the score indicated.

“Give Saddler River Day credit, they fought hard right to the very end,” said Mahoney. “I know they have had some down years, but they are well-coached and they are going to give problems to a lot of teams in this league this year. We played well defensively in the second half and that got us on a roll.”

Kieran Smith drilled a pair of threes to help keep Saddle River Day in it early.

Saddle River Day moved the ball around well early and used the three-point shot to hang around in the first half. Kieran Smith drilled a pair of threes and Austin Wesolowski added another to cut Bogota’s lead to 15-14 midway through the second quarter, before Bogota went to the locker room holding a 20-16 at the half.

“We didn’t want to lose this game and I had to step up my game both on offense and defense,” said Pena. “I’m one of the leaders on this team and I had to be more consistent. We had to make a run in the third quarter to get our confidence back.”

Pena allowed them to do just that with a pair of driving layups and a pair of three-pointers during a 12-0 spurt that gave Bogota a 32-16 lead. The Rebels were still down 14 going into the fourth quarter, but never stopped hustling and fought their way right back into the game with a variety of full and half-court traps.

They were able to force a few turnovers and several rushed shots with their pressure defense. Mark Devli scored a pair of baskets, then fed Wesley Kaplan for a short jumper that cut the Bucs’ lead down to seven, 34-27, with 3:19 to play.

Led by Pena and Jovali Vazquez, the Bucs finally figured out how to beat the press. They only turned the ball over once in the final 3:19 and closed out the game on a 13-2 run.

With the win, Bogota improved to 4-3 on the season.

“We had our opportunities, but they made two huge second-half runs that killed us,” said Saddle River Day head coach Mike Shaughnessy. “We played very well in stretches, but we didn’t do it for a full 32 minutes. But Bogota is a team that was beating us (38-11) at the half last year, so this is a huge improvement. We’re getting better and if we keep working hard, the results will come.”

Pena finished with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals for Bogota (4-3). Vazquez scored eight of his 10 points in the second half. Devli finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Saddle River Day (2-2).

The win moved Bogota a game over .500 and gave Mahoney reason to be an optimist for a successful season in the BCSL-Olympic Division.

“For this group of kids to be where we are at (4-3) is a testament to how hard we’re working,” added Mahoney. “With only (Lou) Pena coming back, I didn’t know what to expect. We are learning how to win on the fly and we’re starting to get comfortable with how to play our best basketball down the stretch. We still have a lot of work to do on both ends of the court, but we’re taking steps in the right direction. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for out of a young, inexperienced team.”

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