What a difference a new year makes.

The Newburgh Free Academy boys’ basketball team struggled mightily in December, missing several key players for various eligibility reasons. But when the calendar switched to 2023, so far, the Goldbacks fortunes have changed with it, as they’ve won two straight games finishing the week with a 71-45 win over the Pine Bush Bushmen on Friday.

The Goldbacks had opened the week by getting their first win of the season, a 64-60 win over the Kingston Tigers on the road.

“My college coach always said, ‘the fun is in the winning,’” Newburgh coach Jason McAllister said. “Every time you win, it makes it feel that much better. Nobody likes to lose, especially competitors. So, the fact that we got that sour taste out of our mouth, especially two times in a row, I feel like it’s a game changer. It sets the tone for the rest of the season for us.”

The Goldbacks took on last week with its full complement. Aiden Brown and Elnathan Johnson have now been joined by key players Deondre Johnson in the inside and outside shooter Jayden Lorenzo, giving the Goldbacks a much more potent offensive attack.

Lorenzo scored a game-high 19 points for the Goldbacks. He did most of his damage in the first quarter, knocking down two of his three 3-point baskets and scoring 10 points in the period.

He was the key factor in the Goldbacks building a 23-6 lead after the first quarter.

“I think he’s one of the best shooters in the section,” McAllister said. “He’s a tough little guy. He works hard on defense, and when he’s open, he shoots it. That’s what his role is on this team. He’s not a point guard per se to bring the ball up, but when he sets his feet up, we all think it was going in.”

Johnson also made his presence felt in the first quarter with two electrifying dunks to put the Bushmen on their heels. With Johnson now providing blocks and rebounds on the defensive sides of the ball, the Goldbacks can set up their transition offense.

“We were able to score in transition (the last two games),” McAllister said. “We lacked transition baskets in the first three games, bad. But now that we have the big fella back, he has the ability to block shots and create transition points for us.”

Johnson finished the game with 12 points. Johnson continued to hit from outside as well, knocking down four on his way to 16 points. Brown also scored 12.

Before suiting up against the Tigers on January 3, the Goldbacks didn’t play a game since their December 20 loss to the Valley Central Vikings, a full two weeks. That also gave the Goldbacks – who early on struggled to even get a full team into practice in December – time to have full practices and get the team into a rhythm that could serve them well the rest of the season.

“We didn’t have the luxury of practicing since November like other teams all the way to now,” McAllister said. “Some of our guys only played a game or two, and some other guys didn’t have more than eight to 10 practices because of games and when they were allowed to come back in play.”

Now, the Goldbacks will roll into the heart of their conference schedule. They’ll visit Monroe-Woodbury on Thursday before facing Warwick and division-leading Middletown next week.

“We’ve got some tough non-conference games that will prepare us for our section games that are coming up next week,” McAllister said. “But these two wins feel really good, but we can’t get complacent. We just have to keep on working.”