By Dylan Butler
Larry Davis Jr. usually does pretty well in tests — he holds a 98 average and is third in his class — so when he asked Bob Olivia for a test, the Christ the King boys’ basketball coach had a tough one for him.
“He said I’d like a shot (to defend) on of these guys,” Oliva said of the top players in the CHSAA. “I said, alright you have Ronald Ramon tomorrow.”
The sophomore guard passed with flying colors, holding the Pittsburgh-bound guard to just six first half points as the Royals closed out the first half on an 18-3 run en route to a 69-57 victory over All Hallows Tuesday at Christ the King.
Ramon finished with a game-high 25 points — including five three-pointers — but 15 of those points were scored in the fourth quarter with Christ the King (7-6, 3-5 CHSAA ‘AA’ West) comfortably ahead.
“I’ve been speaking to him all day about that and he was ready,” Royals forward Brian Beckford said of Davis, Jr.’s defensive assignment on Ramon, third in the CHSAA ‘AA’ in scoring, averaging 23.1 points per game. “We gave him the test and he came out and did a good job.”
The defensive work of Davis Jr., whose father Larry Davis Sr. played for Oliva in 1974, freed up Chris Martin offensively and the junior guard responded with 14 points, five assists and five rebounds.
The Royals broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring All Hallows (7-5, 1-4), 13-3 to take a 27-12 halftime lead. Christ the King played a better all-around game than the first meeting between the two teams, a 54-50 All Hallows win Jan. 3.
“We came out strong, we came out better as a team and did what we had to do,” said Martin. “The first game we played them we weren’t as intense as tonight. We came out on our home floor and played as a team. We came out strong and finished strong.”
Trailing by as many as 18 in the third quarter, All Hallows was forced to play small and press but the Royals handled the pressure and Martin hit 6-foot-7 Beckford (15 points, eight rebounds) and 6-foot-4 Joe DeLuca (12 points, nine rebounds) with touchdown passes for easy layups.
“You have to come out with fire day in and day out in this league,” said All Hallows coach Ed Gonzalez. “The defensive intensity was not there at all.”
St. John’s Prep 63, LaSalle 47. Fordham-bound Bryant Dunston had 16 points and nine rebounds and Richard Thomas added 15 points and seven rebounds for St. John’s Prep (11-2, 7-0 CHSAA 'A' South).
St. Raymond’s 70, Archbishop Molloy 69. Sundiata Gaines’ desperation, three-quarter court shot just before the buzzer bounced harmlessly to the floor, enabling the Ravens to hold off the Stanners in a league matchup Sunday afternoon. Gaines led Molloy with 24, while Gavin Grant led St. Ray’s with 24. Molloy fell to 8-5, 3-1 with the loss.
Holy Cross 64, St. Joseph by the Sea 45. The Knights were led by Laurence Jolicoeur with 14 points in this non-league win. Teammates Mike Johnson added 13, Joe Connor scored 12 and Gordon McKenzie chipped in 11 for Holy Cross, which improved to 10-3 overall.
St. John’s Prep 70, Bishop Ford 52. The first-place Red Storm was paced by senior Bryant Dunston, as the Fordham-bound big man scored 19 points with 20 rebounds and three blocks. Serge Clement added 18 points, while Richard Thomas scored 12 points for St. John’s, now 10-2 overall and a perfect 6-0 in league play.
Christ the King 67, Bishop Loughlin 56. Akeem Gooding and Jay DeLuca both put up double-doubles for the Royals, Gooding with 20 points and 12 boards, while DeLuca had 15 and 10.
Archbishop Molloy 73, St. Francis Prep 65. Gaines again led the Stanners, scoring a team-high 33. Willis Kettrell chipped in 12, as Molloy held off a game Terriers’ challenge Friday.
Holy Cross 62, Monsignor McClancy 56. Gordon McKenzie and Michael Johnson lifted the Knights over the Crusaders, scoring 17 and 14, respectively.
St. John’s Prep 72, Stepinac 57. Dunston posted his first double-double of the week over Stepinac, registering 14 points with 11 boards and five blocks, while Clement chipped in 19 points and dished out four assists.
Archbishop Molloy 89, Monsignor McClancy 70. Gaines had 24 and Kettrell scored 20 in this league win last week for Molloy.
St. John’s Prep 53, Nazareth 25. Dunston had 19 points and five blocks to lead the Red Storm over the Kingsmen.
— Anthony Bosco contributed to this story
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by email at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
