Following the graduation of the top four scorers from last season, including career points leader Anthony Pizzuti, Lyndhurst’s Johnny Chaname knew this winter was going to require him to transform from a spark off the bench, to a lead guard
It was a change that Chaname admitted put some pressure upon the junior’s shoulders.
“It was definitely a little bit of pressure because I knew I had to take up a big part of what our big seniors did last year,” said Chaname, who averaged 5.0 points per game last season as a sophomore. “Coming into the season, I just tried to play my game and I felt the pressure a little bit. But then, as soon as the season started flowing, I definitely didn’t feel as much pressure as I did in the beginning of the season.”
Instead that pressure has been shifted upon the opposing defense who have been asked to try to slow down the Chaname and the Golden Bears’ high-powered offense.
On January 23, Chaname scored a career-high 31 points to go with seven rebounds, six steals and five assists to give Lyndhurst a big NJIC National Division win at Secaucus. Four days later, against Harrison, Chaname recorded his first career double-double when he went off for 30 points, 10 assists and five rebounds.
This past Thursday, Chaname had 22 points and six assists as the Bears rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to beat Ridgefield Park in the first round of the Bergen Invitational Tournament.
Chaname’s offensive outburst makes him The Observer Athlete of the Week.
“Sometimes, when I feel hot and the game’s just coming to me and I just feel like it’s going to be one of those types of games, I don’t really focus on the points that I score,” the 5-foot-9 Chaname said. “Sometimes my coaches on the sideline tell me how many points I have and I laugh because I don’t expect myself to score that much.”
“He’s been able to control the offense, run the offense,” head coach Perrin Mosca said. “We’ve been going up and down the court. We preached in the preseason that we got to run the floor and he just embraced it.”
Since starting out the year with an 0-4 record, Lyndhurst has won 11 of its last 16 games with Chaname averaging 22.1 points per game during that run. For the season, he’s averaging 20.0 points and 4.6 assists per contest.
Despite heavy losses to graduation, the “Big 3” of Chaname and freshmen Avery Cano (14.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists per game) and Filoteo Mosca (11.5 points,4.5 rebounds per game) have thrived within a revamped offensive system that relies more tempo and quickness.
“I would definitely describe (my game) as fast paced,” said Chaname. “I like to get to my shots, I like to get to the free throw line. Shooting threes is a big aspect of my game as well as attacking the rim and finding my teammates as well. I love assisting them, especially in the open court.”
“I didn’t expect him to put up those numbers like he’s been doing (lately), but I knew he had the ability,” said Perrin Mosca. “He showed some flashes of if last year, but he really couldn’t get a chance last year with all the guys we had.
“He’s taking the opportunities and he’s going with it.”
With 6-foot-4 point guard Matt Slaby running the point along with other veteran guards in CJ Baillie and Jake Mayer, Chaname was rarely asked to initiate offense last season.
Rather than lament the lack of shots, Chaname embraced the lessons he learned from the seniors..
“Those seniors last year definitely helped me a lot,” Chaname said. “They talked about how they don’t get nervous during the game and what helped them and made them play better. Watching that from the sidelines helped.me a lot.”
Those lessons have helped turn what was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Bears into one where they are primed to be a dangerous double-digit seed in the state tournament.
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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.)