Christian Boyce admits he didn’t really know what to expect when he took over as the boys basketball coach at North Arlington in late October, just a few weeks before the start of the preseason.
All the veteran head coach did not was what wasn’t there. Either through graduation or transfer four of the Vikings’ top five scorers last season’s 13-13 team were gone leaving Boyce with a collection of largely unknown players.
“The only thing I knew was that we were young,” said Boyce, most recently served as Lyndhurst’s girls basketball coach. “Our best just transferred from what everybody told me. That’s really all I knew. I just knew I liked what I was told by our athletic director (Joe Cioffi) of what they’re looking to do here at the program and I was on board with that so I took a chance coming here.”
Through the first few weeks of the season, it’s a chance that’s paid off in a big way. At 5-1, North Arlington has exceeded everyone’s expectations and is one of Bergen County’s biggest surprises.
“I’m 100-percent surprised after not having an offseason, not having any time to really prep or get the kids to know me,” said Boyce. “Just coming into this basically two weeks before the season starts, expectations of being 5-1 would not have been a realistic goal at that time.”
The one established varsity player that Boyce did inherit was Justin Bunnell and the senior point guard has been the steady, do-everything, presence that a young Vikings team has needed. So far Bunnell is averaging 9.0 points per game, while leading the team in assists (5.6) and rebounds (4.5) per game.
“Justin really is a Swiss army knife for us,” Boyce said. “He will play the point, he’ll play the two, the three, he plays the back for us or the forward in the press. He’s basically all over. He’s loading up the stat sheet across the board, he’s extremely tough defensively. He’s everything as a coach that I would want in a player.”
Junior Joseph Lunelli (4.3 points per game) is a starting combo guard, who can run the point. Another junior starter at guard, Aiden Manna, has been a valuable two-way player, averaging 12 points per game, while also leading the team in steals at 3.8 per game.
“Aiden’s been very consistent for us,” said Boyce. “Every game, he’s right around double digits (in points) for us. Defensively he’s been great, gets rebounds and is very intense on the court. I love the way he plays, he has a chip on his shoulder and I love coaching kids like that.”
Starting at one forward spot is sophomore Ethan Martinez, who has been one of North Jersey’s biggest breakthroughs. In his first two varsity games, Martinez erupted for 27 points apiece in wins over Garfield and Wood-Ridge.
For the season, the 6-foot-3 wing is averaging 20.8 points and 4.2 rebounds, and, according to Boyce, is just scratching the surface of what he can do as an offensive player.
“I think his numbers will actually increase significantly once he understands how to score,” said Boyce. “I’ve seen guys that could just score because they could shoot and they could get to the rim. But when he understands that there’s different ways to get open and understand the game more, I think he’s going to be an excellent scorer.”
Senior Christopher Sousa starts at the other forward spot and is averaging 6.7 points per game.
While scoring depth is often at a premium at small schools like North Arlington, Boyce and the Vikings have had the luxury of having a guard like Ethan Zaldivar coming off the bench.
Zaldivar, a sophomore, has quickly emerged as one of the NJIC’s best sixth man, averaging 14.0 points and 3.2 steals per game.
“We call him the quiet assassin because he shows zero emotion (on the court),” Boyce said. “He could complain and say I should be starting based on his numbers. That’s not the type of player he is.”
Sophomore guard Danny Higgins gives North Arlington another shooter off the bench, while senior Felipe Carvalho is a first-year player who provides physicality up front. Junior Amaury Linares has also played some key minutes.
Sophomore Vincent Hinojosa and freshman Valentino Cruz bring additional depth.
North Arlington seeks to continue its surprising start as it begins a stretch of four NJIC National Division games in a span of eight games, which started on Monday, Jan. 6 against rival Lyndhurst. The Vikings then travel to Rutheford on Wednesday, host Weehawken on Friday and go to Harrison on Jan. 13.
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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.)