Micah McDuffie has been watching big brother Jonah McDuffie score big baskets for the Chapel Field boys’ basketball team for years.

He got a taste of the spotlight on December 5, scoring a game-high 20 points as the Lions beat the Wallkill Panthers, 53-47, at Wallkill High School.

“It was nice to know that all the hard work pays off and that I’ve been watching (Jonah) for so long and I’ve wanted to reach this level,” Micah McDuffie said. “It’s just nice to be here, at least for a game.”

It was the second game in as many nights for the Lions, who had opened the season with two straight losses.

They opened the season on December 1 with a 43-31 loss to Tri-Valley, a game that saw Jonah McDuffie eclipse the 1,000-point milestone.

“Those accolades don’t mean anything to me,” Jonah McDuffie said. “I just try to do the best I can do for my team. If that means scoring not many like today and (Micah) scores. Whatever you can do for the team.”

Then on December 4, they were beaten by Chester, 46-35. Chapel Field coach Brad McDuffie said the Lions looked bad in the loss to Tri-Valley, better in the loss to Chester and best in the win over Wallkill.

Jonah McDuffie had to leave the game in the first quarter due to a cut in shoulder and that’s when Micah got his game going. He scored eight of his 20 points in the first quarter. Jonah scored 12 points.

“Micah stepped up, kind of to the surprise of everyone to tell you the truth, including probably himself,” coach McDuffie said. “But that’s what happens when you’re dealing with new players. You put them on the court, and I always tell the guys, my first couple of games in college basketball were all a blur. It was all moving so fast. Then after the third or fourth game, the speed slowed down and it was like, ‘OK, I belong here.’”

Not everyone in the gym was surprised.

“I expected that (from Micah),” Jonah McDuffie said. “He’s been working hard all summer. It’s paid off.”

The Lions built a 22-11 lead after the first quarter and the Panthers closed the gap to five points, 31-26, by halftime.

“For our first game, there was a lot of jitters and a lot of nerves,” Wallkill coach Hunter Andrews said. “We’ve got a really young team, and I thought in spurts we competed really well. But overall, we have a lot of growing to do on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively.”

The Panthers finally caught the Lions in the fourth quarter on two free throws by Jack Cook. A steal and transition layup by Mike Fanning put the Panthers up by two points. Fanning scored a team-high 16 points and Cook added 15.

“They really fought,” Andrews said. “They bought into what we were doing defensively, which was really great to see. We did not have a good first half on the defensive side of the ball and later in the second quarter through the end of the game, we were able to defend at a better level.”

Mikey Bonagura gave the Lions the lead for good with 2:08 to go in the game with a 3-pointer, starting an 8-0 run that cemented their victory.

“We have to work on stuff and now we’ve got to fix what we have to fix,” Jonah McDuffie. “We just have to keep with it. This game is just one of many.”