By Eddie Castro
In pro sports, we all know the rivalries between two teams that have an historic past: Yankees/Red Sox, Jets/Patriots, Giants/Cowboys, Ohio State/Michigan and Duke/North Carolina. As far as the Borough of Brooklyn goes when it comes to high school sports, there are a few rivalries that gets everyone on the edge of their seats. When the young men of Bishop Loughlin and Jefferson get together, fireworks and dramatic endings are sure to be in the mix. This past Sunday, the two schools went head-to-head again.
From the first basket on, the squad from Loughlin had set the tone early and often as the Lions cruised to a 94-77 victory over the Orange Wave at the Third Annual Apparel, which was held in Queens. Loughlin was able to seal the W thanks, in part, to the scoring duo of Marquis Nowell and Keith Williams, who led the way with the offensive surge combining for 40 of the 94 points. Nowell started the game hotter than a fox in a forest fire in the first half dropping 19 points in the first 16 minutes of the game. The junior guard made clever decisions with the basketball and got his teammates involved as well leading his team to an early 17-4 lead in the first four minutes of the game. The duo of Nowell and Williams was just too much for the Orange Wave to handle. Although the team put up a fight, the Lions dropped an amazing 30 points in the second quarter and came out the gates even harder in the second half with a two-handed slam by Williams. When asked about his team’s impressive start-to-finish Loughlin Head Coach Edwin Gonzalez said: “I told them to be aggressive and play with confidence. I knew that (Jefferson) would come out and pressure us for 32 minutes, and I said, ‘Once we beat their press, let’s just attack the basket’.”
With the big win, Loughlin now can say that they have successfully played the role of David and have taken down the Goliath, which is the reigning Public School Athletic League(PSAL) champs. Not only does the win put them as the team to watch this year, but it also puts them as the target as teams will be doing their homework; for now, they are one of the teams the other schools will give it their all to get the victory.
Sports Notes: (Football) What is next for the New York Giants after a heartbreaking 38-13 playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers? E-mail me @ castroeddie714@gmail.com and hear why I say the team will have to spend some serious money on the offense and hope their star receiver, Odell Beckham, Jr., can mature both on and off the field during the off-season.