BROOKLYN, NY - Coming off a heartbreaking and tough league loss at home on Friday night to Cardinal Hayes, Bishop Loughlin returned to the court on Sunday, stepping out of league to take on PSAL Class "A" power Frederick Douglass Academy.
The Lions were without guards Keith Williams '17 and Markquis Nowell '18 for this one, and they fell behind 10-0 right out of the gate, but behind the play of fellow guard Tyrese Gaffney '17, Loughlin was able to quickly recover, take the lead, and run away for the 76-50 win.
There was no doubt that Friday's loss left a sting for the Lions and head coach Ed Gonzalez, but knowing that he was going to be without his two stars on Sunday presented his team not only a chance to rebound from a hard loss, but a chance for other players to step up and show what they could do.
"We decided it is a long season and they were hurt so we were going to sit them, but that presented an opportunity for other guys," Gonzalez said. "You know what you will get with Keith and Markquis but we have a strong supporting cast and this was their time to prove it."
Gonzalez was confident his team would come out stronger at the start of this game as well coming off a strong practice on Saturday but much like Friday, Bishop Loughlin again found themselves with a double-digit deficit quickly.
Travis Cox '17 was able to start the game strong with an elbow jumper and a floater in the lane, and when Lasana Camara '17 was able to finish inside while getting fouled, FDA had built a fast 10-0 lead.
Knowing that they had gotten themselves into a big hole just 48 hours before, and playing without Williams and Nowell, someone needed to take the leadership role and get the Lions back on track, and that was where Gaffney stepped in.
He knew someone needed to take the bull by the horns and get the team back to playing the way they knew they could and that's where Gaffney, feeling they all needed to step up their play, made his plea.
"I didn't want the game to get away from us early, we dug ourselves a hole on Friday and I didn't want that happening again so I talked to my teammates as a leader and said we have to pick up the intensity and be more aggressive," Gaffney explained.
Leading by example, Gaffney opened the scoring for Loughlin with just over 4 minutes to play in the opening quarter, and he would connect on two more midrange jumpers before the end of the first to cut the Lions deficit to 14-12 after one.
Though Cox continued to be a bright light throughout the opening half for FDA, Loughlin would take their first lead of the game with 5:20 to go when Chad Venning '19 finished off a feed from Gaffney down low.
Gaffney would go on to continue his fine play late in the 2nd quarter as he put in a three ball from the wing, and with a beautiful up and under finish just before the halftime buzzer he was able to put Bishop Loughlin up at the half 34-26.
Loughlin would pick up where they left off to start the 3rd as behind both Adrien Nunez '17 and Jordan Thomas '17picking up their scoring, the Lions built a 43-26 lead.
That would dwindle slightly as the 3rd quarter wound down as Cox and Abraham Darame '17 would each bury threes as FDA as a team picked up the defensive intensity to cut the Loughlin lead to just 11 after three.
It looked as if FDA was making their move but when Gaffney drove to the rim, a blocking foul was called on Cox who thought with 7:02 to go that it should've been a charge and was called for a technical foul on his reaction.
Rock solid from the FT line, Gaffney nailed his free throws and that was followed by a big Nunez three to bump the lead back up to 18 with just under 7 minutes to go, and for all intents and purposes put the game away.
Bishop Loughlin as a team finished the game strong as they completely shut down the FDA guards from attacking the basket, and with Venning doing a great job late inside offensively too the Lions were able to coast home for a convincing 76-50 victory.
The star of the night was Gaffney who had a career high 21 points in the win, while Venning and Nunez each added 10 points in the win. It was Gaffney's day though as he really opened eyes in the victory and he even knew that with the dynamic duo of Williams and Nowell out, he needed to step up to make sure it wasn't two losses in a row for his Lions.
"I felt it was big for me to step up with our two big players out because I am the third guy and I had a point to prove to step up and lead the team because that's what coach asked me to do, and that's what I felt I did," Gaffney said.
He certainly did, and as a team the Lions did a great job of stifling Frederick Douglass Academy as well as pretty much from the 2nd quarter on as Cox had a team high 18 points, with Darame added 10 points of his own as well in the defeat.
It was a great job by Bishop Loughlin as a team to rally together, even without key pieces, and get an important win to move past the tough Hayes defeat. They may be able to move forward now and focus on the rest of the season but Friday is not a night that Gonzalez is going to forget. He admits that he holds on to losses and while he knows his guys will be ready the rest of the way, that one will stick with him as he makes sure to never allow a loss like that to happen again.
"I will never forget what happened on Friday, it's a loss and it will stay with me. Friday we let one get away, but today we responded today and got the win which is good. A lot of guys who had to wait their turn showed me good things so that definitely made me happy."
