The Hopkins men's basketball team has launched an emphatic start to the young season. Over the course of the last two weeks, the Blue Jays won two of their three contests, expanding their record on the season to 4-1.
Led by the outstanding play of freshman forward George Bugarinovic, The News-Letter's Athlete of the Week, Hopkins was able to squeak out a win in a nail-biter against 15th-ranked St. Mary's and blowout conference rivals Haverford and Gettysburg. The only loss to this point came against Salisbury.
On Friday, Nov. 18th, Hopkins hosted St. Mary's in the semifinals of the Pride of Maryland Tournament. St. Mary's expected to roll into the championship game with ease, but in an exciting back-and-forth matchup, Hopkins edged out the Seahawks, 67-66. In the first half alone the lead changed eight times, and both teams went to the locker rooms at halftime with the Blue Jays leading, 32-28.
The rookie Bugarinovic made an impact from the beginning. Posting his first career double-double, Bugarinovic compiled 17 points and 11 rebounds. He was not the only Hopkins player with a career game, however, as junior guard Adam Spengler dropped a career high 15 points.
Coming out of the break, Hopkins extended its lead to eight points, before the St. Mary's began to claw back into the game. A 9-0 run lead to a one point Seahawk lead halfway through the second period.
The score then continued to see-saw for eight minutes, until 1:29 remained on the clock. At that point, sophomore guard Daniel Corbett pulled up and drained a three pointer from beyond the arc, giving Hopkins a 60-58 lead. The Blue Jays refused to look back on the ensuing possession when Bugarinovic drilled a three of his own and expanded the lead to five points. The Seahawks were fought off and the final buzzer sounded with the score 67-66 in favor of Hopkins.
Unfortunately, the next game was the Pride of Maryland Tournament championship game, and the Blue Jays suffered their first loss of the season to Salisbury, 60-49. On a more positive note, Corbett and Bugarinovic were both named to the all-Tournament Team.
"We're off to a great start," Corbett said, a native of college basketball country in Louisville, Kentucky. "Coach has implemented a new motion offense that has been extremely effective and our defense has really improved from last season."
The Blue Jays have been able to keep opposing defenses on their heels and continued to pour on the points in an offensive explosion against Haverford on Tuesday, Nov. 22nd, the first conference match-up of the season.
A scoring attack led once again by Bugarinovic and Corbett allowed Hopkins to win by a 21-point margin, 64-43. A slow start and some quick buckets by the Fords' offense had Hopkins trailing early on, but, midway through the first half, the Blue Jays added a 7-0 scoring run to take a 21-11 lead. Another big run to close out the half had the Fords trailing by a score of 37-22 at the break.
Once again, Bugarinovic led all scorers on the court, tallying a game high 14 points and adding six rebounds. Senior forward Tim McCarty totaled 10 points of his own and grabbed five boards on the game. Corbett scored just seven points, but piled on four steals and five assists as well.
Igniting the second half with an 11-3 run, the Blue Jays continued to pull away. The largest lead of the game was 24 points. The hot start has the Blue Jays eager for the remainder of the season.
"We are a young team," Corbett said. "With more experience, we are going to continue to get better as the season progresses and we hope to make a deep run into the conference playoffs."
On Wednesday night against Gettysburg, it was Bugarinovic who was at the forefront of the Blue Jays offense yet again, driving Hopkins to a 52-49 win. The Overland, Kansas native netted 13 points, tops among Jays, to go with seven rebounds.
McCarty pitched in seven boards of his own while sophomore center Aleksandar Nikolic and Spengler added nine and eight points, respectively.
Hopkins and the Bullets battled back-and-forth for most of the first half, due in part to six consecutive points from Bugarinovic midway through, and entered the locker room with a 19-18 score in favor of the Jays.
The game remained close in the second half, as both teams improved their shooting percentages. Hopkins shot at 52.4 percent in the second half, up from 31 percent in the first; Gettysburg shot 44 percent in the second half, up from 36.8 percent in the first.
Late in the game, the Bullets had ample opportunities to even the score, keeping the game within five points for the final five minutes. However, Corbett's clutch play, which included a lay-up, free throw and defensive rebound, within the final two minutes iced the win for the Blue Jays.
Hopkins plays Dickinson on Friday before taking a break and resuming the remainder of the season after Christmas.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.