Loughlin Lions Feast on Molloy
BROOKLYN, NY – The Lions are hungry. Hungry for recognition. The recognition of being the number one team in New York City. In this week’s NYCHoops.net Top Ten, only two teams stand in the way of the #3 ranked Bishop Loughlin. On Tuesday, one them was consumed as #2 ranked Archbishop Molloy went down swinging in an 93-87 slug fest.
“I didn’t want to lose this game,” said Loughlin’s star point guard Markquis Nowell ‘18. “This was for bragging rights. We’re looking for that number one spot.” Fighting through two bouts of leg cramps, the Rivals.com 4-star junior led his squad with a monumental effort, scoring a double-double (19 points and 13 assists).
According to Nowell, the strategy put forth by Lions head coach Ed Gonzalez was simple. “Play harder than them. Be tough on Moses [Brown ‘18] and be tough on the key guys [Cole Anthony ‘19 and Khalid Moore ‘18] and give it our all.”
Being tough on Brown was a tall order, literally. The 6’11” center was a terror around the rim early on but the Lions were up to the task. Back-to-back treys by Nowell along with perimeter shots by Keith Williams ‘17 and 6’2” Tyrese Gaffney ‘17 forced the Stanners to call a timeout with 4:38 left in the warm up quarter. Unexpectedly down 12 – Zip, Molloy head coach Mike McCleary tried to quickly recalibrate his rattled squad.
“We didn’t do a good enough job keeping them off the backboards,” said McCleary. “We didn’t do a good enough job stopping them from scoring.”
Brown raised his game in the latter part of the first quarter as he dunked, scored inside and even went coast-to-coast for the flush. The junior big man was becoming brutal in the paint against defenders but Molloy was still down by 9 points to start the second quarter.
Gaffney carried the brunt of the offensive load for Loughlin along with Williams as the quarter got underway. Anthony and 6'3" John Herring '17 countered for the Stanners but the scoring was lopsided in favor of the Brooklyn CHSAA squad as they intensified the defensive pressure on Molloy’s center. After scoring 8 points in the first quarter, Brown was held to a donut in field goals in the second quarter.
Alley oops from Nowell to Williams ensued and the Lions extended its advantage to 46 – 30 at the half. “When we play together, we’ve really gotten some good chemistry over the years,” said Nowell regarding his Cincinnati-bound partner in crime. “We have a bond that I don’t think [anybody] has.”
Down by 16 to start the second half, Coach McCleary said he truly believed that Molloy could make a comeback and to start the third quarter, it appeared he might be prophetic. A mini run sparked by 6’1” Jackson Vertucci ‘17 and Moore closed the Stanners deficit to 10 points before Gaffney rebooted the Lions from the arc.
Once again in a 16-point hole as the fourth quarter got underway, Molloy had an opportunity to make a run as Nowell went down and out with a leg cramp. A three-pointer by 6’0” Jade Tse ‘18 and a wicked dunk by Brown appeared to set the stage for a Stanners awakening but 6’6” Justin Champagnie ‘19 and 6’9” Chad Vennings ‘19 filled the void for Loughlin offensively until Nowell returned.
Molloy continued to battle but were hovering behind by 16 points until Nowell went down for a second time with leg cramps with 1:48 to play. “I was trying to fight through it,” said Nowell. “I was trying to tell the coach to let me play [because] I’m a warrior and I didn’t want to lose.”
The timing couldn’t have been worse for Loughlin. As Nowell feverishly re-hydrated and received treatment on the sidelines, Anthony netted a trifecta that finally put the Stanners behind by only single digits. The Lions tried to hold the fort but Anthony got even hotter, dropping two three-balls and with 44 second left in regulation, the Lions were only up, 90-84.
Gonzalez let Nowell reenter the game with seconds left to play and six points would be as close as Archbishop Molloy got. Loughlin pounded them on the offensive boards. That along with key Molloy misses dashed all hopes of a Stanners comeback win
Williams and Gaffney paced the Lions, notching game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds each. Anthony finished with 21 points & 6 assists for Molloy with Brown scoring a double-double (16 points & 17 rebounds).
Although Bishop Loughlin got off to a rocky start with losses to Cardinal Hayes and St. Raymond, Nowell attributes those blemishes to rust. “That was really the beginning of the year. Now it’s the middle of the year. We knew what we did wrong. We knew what to fix. Now, Friday [against St. Raymond], we have go out there and play like with did today.”
