By Adam Martini
Christ the King and Archbishop Molloy wrote another exciting chapter into the two schools’ storied CHSAA boys basketball rivalry Friday evening. Molloy forced overtime after trailing by as many as 18 points and prevailed, 75-72, in front of a spirited crowd at Christ the King’s home gym in Middle Village.
Marlon Smith, who scored a team-high 23 points, and Sundiata Gaines made the big plays down the stretch for the Stanners (14-2, 5-2 CHSAA). Gaines, who scored 18 points, warmed up late in the third with seven consecutive points to slice into a 13-point deficit. Smith’s aggressive play in the fourth helped bring Molloy all the way back.
Kevin Hamilton, who will play at Holy Cross this fall, forced overtime by sinking three clutch free throws after being fouled on a three-point try with nine seconds remaining. He would hit two-of-two free throws with 21 seconds remaining in overtime to put Molloy ahead for good, 73-71. Hamilton finished with 12 points.
“The first one was the toughest,” Hamilton said about his regulation free throws. “After the first one went down, I knew the rest would fall.”
Christ the King (8-8, 5-2 CHSAA) has not been consistent this season, nor has it blown away teams like in past seasons, but the team played like a championship contender in the opening minutes. Japhet McNeil, who finished with 21 points, spearheading the offense in the first quarter as the Royals made all the right plays and led 25-12 after one.
McNeil hit a three-pointer and drove to the hoop for three pretty lay-ups to put Molloy on its heels. His aggressiveness rubbed off on his teammates, as the Royals took advantage of Molloy’s early malaise by attacking the rim for layups and rebounds.
Smith, McNeil’s counterpart, responded with two three-point shots and a conventional three-point play late in the second. His surge helped the Stanners narrow the score to a manageable 39-29 by halftime.
McNeil, sporting dreadlocks in pigtails, and Smith, who wearing shiny purple sneakers, backed up their hip styles with solid play. The two guards, who defended each other most of the game, made their respective teams go. It was Smith’s relentless play down the stretch, however, that turned the game around.
“I’m confident every time I touch the ball,” Smith said. “I have confidence in my teammates, too.”
Smith started rolling midway through the fourth. His layup with 4:18 remaining made the score 57-51 in favor of the Royals. He hit a baseline shot and free throw to complete a three-point play at 2:35 and nailed a pull-up jumper seconds later to bring Molloy within three, 62-59. The Stanners, who trailed 53-42 to start the fourth, fed off Smith’s aggressive play to tie the score 66-66 by the end of regulation.
“Our games with Christ the King are always close,” Molloy coach Jack Curran said. “We’re happy to come out of this one with a win.”
The Royals still had control of the game early in the fourth. Mitchel Beauford picked up a loose ball and scored to make it 55-45 with 6:48 remaining. The momentum soon changed on Kevin Diffley’s rousing dunk at the end of a three-on-two break with 5:00 remaining. Diffley hit a clutch jump hook in the lane with 1:19 left to cut the Royals’ lead to 62-61 and set the stage for Hamilton’s clutch freebies.
“You have to give Molloy all the credit in the world,” Christ the King coach Bob Oliva said. “But we made bad basketball decisions.”
Another key moment came with 2:53 left in the third. Justin Marshall was whistled for a personal foul on Smith and received a technical foul for saying too much about it. Without Marshall, Gaines did damage inside and Molloy grabbed big rebounds.
Holy Cross 89, McClancy 80. The Knights (10-8, 1-6) won their first league game of the season in triple overtime behind the play of Miguel Gonzalez, who had a game-high 34 points. Woody Aime had 20 in his first game of the season, while Danny Surrett 15 and Andre Williams had 15 and 12 points, respectively. Wesley Matthews led the Crusaders (7-9, 1-6) with 31.
St. Raymond’s 83, Molloy 78. Sundiata Gaines had 19 points, Kevin Hamilton had 15, Jamaal Wagner had 14 and Marlon Smith had 13 for the Stanners, who drop to 14-3 on the year with their five-point home loss Sunday.
North Bergen 55, Newtown 43. Even without junior Andre Cole, who never showed up for the game, the Pioneers opened up a 22-7 halftime lead. But Newtown (18-4) struggled with North Bergen’s press in the opener of the third annual Great 8 Hawkins Memorial Challenge at Columbia University Sunday.
Boys & Girls 66, Newtown 42. Amadou Fall had 20 points and 14 rebounds and Carlos Collazo added 20 points to lead Boys & Girls (18-3) in the Hoops-4-Heroes/Phil Hayes tournament at Brooklyn’s JHS 275 Saturday. Bobby Pandy had 10 points to lead the Pioneers, who had a 17-14 edge after one quarter.
Bishop Loughlin 86, Cardozo 67. Villanova-bound Curtis Sumpter netted a game-high 24 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks and Jason Olive added 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench to lead Loughlin (8-6) in the finale of the Hoops-4-Heroes/Phil Hayes tournament. Cameron Tyler had 14 points to lead Cardozo (14-6).
John Adams 54, Long Island City 50. Taylor Murphy had 19 points, including all four points in overtime, and 21 rebounds to lead the Spartans, who rallied from a 10-point deficit with 1:18 to play. Brian Covington added nine points and Salah Brown netted seven points for Adams (12-8, 5-6 Queens III-A).
Bayside 59, Bergtraum 52. Lance Hazel had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Ryan Leak chipped in 12 points and seven boards and Kenny Johnson added eight points and 10 rebounds to lead undefeated Bayside (19-0) in a non-league game.
Robert F. Wagner 68, Queens Vocational 58. Jason Murphy had 19 points and Kyle Alston added 15 points for Wagner (10-10, 8-2 Queens B), which shot 12-of-14 from the line in the fourth quarter.
Richmond Hill 83, New York Family Academy 58. Michael Pickens had 17 points and Jimmy Smith added 14 points and seven assists to lead the Lions (16-4) in a non-league game.
— Anthony Bosco and Dylan Butler contributed to this story
Reach contributing writer Adam Martini by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
