The basketball season is only a week old, but Lyndhurst has already seen its depth challenged in a significant way, with three projected rotation players currently sidelined by injury.
But despite those losses and an incredibly difficult early schedule, the Golden Bears and veteran head coach Perrin Mosca have embraced the challenge.
Through it all, Lyndhurst is off to a 1-1 start, losing a tight opener against Dwight-Englewood before beating rival Rutherford on Friday.
“This is crazy. Coming into the preseason, everyone was good and then the scrimmage against North Arlington is when the injury bug hit us,” Mosca said. “I thought it was going to be a deep team, but we have to go with a little less right now. But it’s good. These guys are getting great game action and pressure situations early, which you can’t beat.”
No one has taken advantage of a new-found opportunity more than forward Sam Ijeh. The 6-foot-5 senior, entered the starting lineup due to a preseason injury to Daniel Bojilov, and has responded by posting 14 points and 16 rebounds against Dwight-Englewood and seven points with 11 rebounds vs. Rutherford.
“It’s been great to see him work and in these two games, he was huge for us,” said Mosca. “Not many teams are going to have a kid that size going against us, so we’re pretty lucky to have that.”
While it remains to be seen if Ijeh and the 6-foot-5 Bojilov will be paired together in the front court, the duo brings an added dynamic to a lineup that already features one of the best guard trios in the NJIC in senior Johnny Chaname and sophomores Avery Cano and Filoteo Mosca.
Chaname, who averaged 21.1 points and 5.2 assists per game a season ago, has continued to develop his all-around game.
“He definitely knows that he has to get everyone involved and he knows that when the time comes, that he’s there to take us home in these games,” Perrin Mosca said. “He’s got that mindset. He likes getting assists, he likes playing defense.”
After a rare off-shooting night vs Rutherford, Chaname is averaging 14.0 points per game this season.
Early on, the leading scorer has been Cano at 19.0 per game. The 6-foot-1 combo guard, who is also averaging 7.5 rebounds per game, while still working his way into basketball shape after a brilliant football season.
“His athletic ability is second to none,” said Perrin Mosca. “He’s making up for (not playing basketball since the summer) with that athletic ability.”
Filoteo Mosca, Perrin’s son, is the third member of Lyndhurst’s “Big Three.” The younger Mosca, a high-level outside shooter, has grown to 6-foot-3, while putting on muscle, which has proven essential as he’s had to play against opposing forwards more early on this season thanks to the injuries to Bojilov and fellow forwards Liony Lopez and Airston Nishevci.
“He’s really worked in the offseason, put some weight on and he grew a couple inches,” Perrin Mosca said of Filoteo, who is averaging 12.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. “He’s ready to step up wherever we need him on the court.”
Julian Cruz, a standout perimeter defender, has filled in as a starter early on for Lyndhurst. Two other players seeing major minutes early have been junior forward Anthony Ricigliano and sophomore guard Josh Lorenzo. Another sophomore, Esai Fernandez, gives Lyndhurst another shooter off the bench.
The schedule doesn’t ease up for Lyndhurst. After a game against Hawthorne on Dec. 22, the Bears head to the Jack Stone Shootout at St. Mary’s of Rutherford, where it will face Morristown-Beard in the first round on Dec. 27.
After the start of the new year, independent games against St. Mary’s, Old Tappan, Dickinson, Columbia and Tenafly await.
“The expectation and our goals are to win our league, win a couple of games in the (Bergen County Jamboree) because I think we’re good enough to do that. And then I think we should be going pretty far in the states,” Perrin Mosca said. “That’s our goal and that’s what we expect by the end of the year. These kids want it.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)