After watching their female counterparts destroy the Lennox Panthers 69-0, it was going to be difficult for the Bruins to one up that performance. Nearly impossibly, in fact. Geffen Academy didn't come out of their Thanksgiving hiatus the strongest, actually losing the first quarter by a couple of points. Perhaps the Bruins were still digesting their mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. It didn't help that star guard Nathan Muhumuza was ruled out for load management, AKA the Kawhi Leonard special. (Though reports indicate he'll be good to go for his season debut tomorrow against De Toledo). As it seemingly always is, however, it was Stevan Markovic lighting the fire again. The junior guard put up a performance for the ages today, scoring 43 points and totaling 15 rebounds. As impressive as the final numbers were, Markovic did most of his scoring in the second half, after getting off to a slow start (by his standards). He really could've had more than fifty. Still, Markovic, through five games, is averaging a cool 24.8 points, by far the most on the team and the most in Geffen Academy basketball history.
Stevan Markovic at "Bruins Media Day" on Tuesday
Yet I will point out two concerning statistics for the Bruins, albeit they happened without two of their top players in Muhumuza and Jordy Ohebsion. Other than Markovic and guard Mason Sugimoto, who is quickly ascending higher and higher on the "trust tree," the Bruins didn't really have any other offense. Both Connor Branch and Ethan Hong had four points each, but on rather poor efficiency. Rosstin Markzar and June Jee both hit a three, but that was kind of it. Eventually, down the line, the Bruins are going to run into teams who will double Markovic every time down the floor, and someone else is going to have to step up and make shots. It remains to be seen who, if anyone, that will be. The other stat I will bring up is one that has been an unfortunate early season trend for Geffen Academy, their inability to take care of the basketball. They actually had twelve more turnovers than Lennox today, which isn't ideal, to say the least. Perhaps the most worrying part is that it hasn't been one player. Almost everybody has struggled to take care of the rock, aside from Markovic and sharpshooter Noah Saucedo, who typically flings the ball at the rim whenever it hits his hands. Still, to quote the Swedish tennis player Stefan Edberg, "A win is a win." It's actually back to back wins for the Bruins, who'll look to make it three in a row Thursday afternoon at De Toledo, a team that they've struggled against over the past couple of years.
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