“March is always a special month in the basketball world.”

Charlie Marquardt is not wrong – and he and his Sudbury Five teammates are not about to let the college lads south of the border enjoy all the fun.

Coming off a humbling loss to the Jamestown Jackals on Thursday on the road (133-113), Marquardt and company looked very much like a team fully aware that post season play is not all that far away – even as the Madness is about to settle in about two weeks from now for the NCAA faithful.

Sudbury bolted out of the gates Saturday night at home, putting up 39 points in the first quarter alone and going start to finish in a 128-111 victory over the Jackals on a chilly northern Ontario night.

Charlie Marquardt and Duane Notice netted 29 points each to lead the way for the victorious Five, with the scoring nicely distributed after that: J.D. Miller (16), Lewis Djonkam (15), Ja’Myrin Jackson (11) and Allen Billinger (10).

“The first thing I put on the board was: this is a playoff game,” noted Sudbury head coach Logan Stutz after the contest. “Our playoff mentality has to start now and it had to start from the tip. They came out with two bigs, which we were not expecting, and made a couple of low post baskets, but once we adjusted, the guys responded really well.”

With seven games remaining on their schedule and a record of 17-6 still finding the local Basketball Super League (BSL) leaders ever so slightly ahead of both the KW (Kitchener-Waterloo) Titans (15-7) and Windsor Express (14-7), the time is nigh for the focus and intensity to be at a season high.

“We knew that was a big game – every game is a big game – and we prepared well,” said Marquardt. “Playing against the same team that we just lost to, it’s always good to bounce back and show well.”

The Jackals tried to make a run, with Deon Stroud recording 26 points coming off the bench, the bulk of which came in the second half – but every spurt was answered by a very determined home team.

“That was very close to a complete game,” acknowledged Stutz. “I think we had some players who didn’t have the best of nights. To make it a complete game, everybody who touches the floor has a great night.”

“But in the regular season, as long as you find seven or eight guys (who are going), you can get the job done,” Stutz continued. “In the playoffs, you will probably need everybody.”

Though Jamestown were actually more efficient in shooting the ball, both from beyond the arc (47.8% vs 31.4%) and in general (44.4% vs 40.4%), the Five took full advantage of being sent to the foul line 16 extra times, earning a single point from the charity stripe 17 more times than the visitors (37 to 20), in a game that was decided by 17 points, no less.

Where the Five have had times found their identity almost exclusively from the perimeter or heavily inside the paint, the diversity of this 2024-2025 grouping has players and coach alike excited.

“The performance tonight from Charlie and Duane was unbelievable,” said Stutz. “They both played really good basketball. Allen (Billinger) and Diego (Bernard) stepped up, protecting the ball and controlling their point guards as needed, which was really good to see. Lew (Djonkam) and J.D. did a great job down low.”

“We had the majority of our guys out there playing really great basketball.”

“We’re a dangerous team,” summarized Marquardt. “We have so many weapons. We’re a high scoring, high character team.”

And one which seems to learn well from their mistakes.

Where Jamestown surged in the middle two quarters had home, often times on the back of poor ball management by the Five, such wasn’t the case in the rematch.

“We went down there and they sped us up and we turned the ball over in a tough environment, an 11:00 a.m. game,” said Stutz, his team dramatically improving on a 20-turnover performance on the road to a home court reduction of just four turnovers – for the game.

“We knew that we had to protect home court tonight and to protect the ball to do that. The two go hand in hand.”

Sudbury will take to the road on Wednesday to battle the London Lightning but then have a week off before they head south, once again, travelling to meet the KW Titans on March 12th.

That stretch, however, leads into a final sprint that sees the Five at home for four of the final five games, running until the end of March – and closing off the regular season basketball madness.