Saturday,
December 19, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Kyle Marshall had 10 points, five rebounds, and three steals for Leonia, which opened its season with a 58-32 win on the road at Bergen Charter. |
HACKENSACK – When Chris Loeffler got the head coaching job at Leonia, replacing longtime head coach Fran Orlowski, he knew that the Lions needed some work in order to get back to the glory days when they competed for league titles year in and year out. The one thing he was not worried about coming into the season turned out to be the one thing he needed to address at halftime of his first game.
Trailing upstart Bergen Charter at halftime, he challenged his players not only to play harder but to play smarter on the defensive end. Fortunately for the first-year head coach, Loeffler did not have to wait long to see if his message got across to his players.
Leonia forced 12 third-quarter turnovers and more often than not turned them into points. Andy Marquardt came off the bench to hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 23-4 run that swung the pendulum in favor of Leonia for good as the Lions allowed just seven second-half points in a 58-32 victory on Friday night at the Bergen Charter School for Arts and Sciences in Hackensack.
“Coach (Loeffler) talked about our mental toughness and we finally woke up in the third quarter,” said Leonia's Kyle Marshall. “He kept saying that they wanted it more than we did and that had to change.”
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Rohan Afflick scored all of his team-high 13 points in the first half for Bergen Charter. |
In its third year of existence as a varsity program, Bergen Charter is still looking for its first-ever league win. The Yellow Jackets were overwhelmed physically by their opponents in the first two years, but the first half proved a different story as they came out the aggressors. Rohan Afflick had the hot hand in the first half and the Yellow Jackets kept going to him. His 18-foot jumper with a hand in his face at the buzzer gave Bergen Charter a 10-6 lead after one quarter.
An acrobatic layup by John Castillo and an elbow jumper from Najier Drakeford helped maintain that lead with Bergen Charter grabbing a 25-20 edge at the half. It was not the position the Lions wanted to be in, but the intermission was exactly what they needed to regroup both mentally and emotionally.
Leonia pressed full-court and forced five turnovers in the Yellow Jackets’ first six possessions of the third quarter. Marquardt heated up quickly with a pair of 3-pointers to cap an 8-0 spurt for the Lions’ first lead of the game. Castillo tied it with a rainbow 3-pointer, but that turned out to be Bergen Charter's only field goal of the period. Marshall was all over the place defensively to set the tone and Chris Schlobach ran the fast break effectively as Leonia got on track to turn a five-point deficit into a 14-point lead, 43-29, by the time the fourth quarter rolled around.
“Some of our best shooters come off the bench and Andy shot the ball really well for us tonight,” said Schlobach. “We want to be quicker and faster than the other team. We weren't in the first half but we turned that around in the third quarter.”
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Leonia's Chris Schlobach filled the stat sheet with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. |
Schlobach had a solid all-around performance with nine points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks for Leonia (1-0). Marquardt scored 11 of his team-high 13 points in the second half. Marshall added 10 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
Afflick scored all 13 of his points in the first half on 6-for-9 shooting along with grabbing six rebounds for Bergen Charter (0-1). Castillo added eight points. Jon Gaba and Drakeford led all players with eight rebounds and four blocks, respectively.
“It comes down to we don't have a lot of experience,” said Bergen Charter head coach Justin Bank. “We had a good run breaking the press in the first half. In the second half we made a mistake or two and it snowballed on us. The more we play, the more continuity we'll have and the better we'll get. It's just going to come with time and playing hard.”
Loeffler chalked up his first win on the Leonia sideline. While there is still a long way to go and plenty to work on, the Lions hope that their second-half performance will carry over into a successful campaign.
“The way we came out in the third quarter is the way we have to come out every single game,” added Schlobach. “We're happy we got a win and we learned a lot about our team as well.”
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