By Anthony Bosco
The Christ the King girls’ basketball team scored the first eight points of their league matchup against the host Archbishop Molloy Stanners Saturday night and they would need every one of them, holding on for a hard-fought 56-50 win.
The nationally ranked Royals have not lost a league game in five years, but the Stanners were looking to change that on a night when the program celebrated its first 1,000-point with Rosalyn Gold-Onwude’s passing the plateau early in the fourth quarter.
“When we came in at halftime it was like, this team is like in the top 5 in the country and we’re playing with them and I’m like, we could definitely be up there; we can beat this team,” Gold-Onwude said. “I think we can be up there.”
It did not look like that early. Christ the King came out and quickly established control, winning the opening tip and scoring just six seconds into the game on Tynisha Davis’ layup. The Royals went on to score the next six points to take an 8-0 lead before Molloy finally got on the board at the 4:22 mark on a free throw by Jen Kelleher.
Molloy (11-4, 7-2) then quickly established control. Playing some of their best basketball of the season, the Stanners scored the next 13 points, bridging the first and second quarters to take a 14-8 lead and keep Christ the King scoreless for close to six minutes.
The two teams then went at each other ferociously over the remaining 6:10, playing physical and intense basketball. CK closed to within two, 20-18, on back-to-back baskets by Carrem Gay and Davis, but Jessica McEntee drilled a three at 2:16 and — after two free throws by CK’s Melissa Kapela — converted the old-fashioned three-point play to give Molloy a 26-20 lead at the break.
“Coming into the second half I think we lost our focus,” Gold-Onwude said. “The game plan was to keep the (6-foot-2 forwards Gay and Tina Charles) out of the game, don’t let them touch the ball and try to make the other girls beat us. And it was working.”
For Christ the King, the mission was to keep Molloy out of the paint in the second half and try to limit Gold-Onwude’s touches.
“We just had to stop the penetration,” said Meka Werts, who drew Gold-Onwude as her defensive assignment. “We can’t let her get to the middle ’cause when she gets to the middle she hurts us. My job was to stop her from penetration and that’s what I tried to do.
“We weren’t worried,” she added. “Everybody came together and we did what we had to do.”
The Royals wasted no time at all in regaining control of the game. Starting with Gay’s basket at 7:46, Christ the King went on a 17-4 run to open the second half. All five Royals scored during the run, led by Werts with six.
But as well as CK was now playing, the Stanners were still within striking distance, getting back within seven on EJ Dreyer’s basket to close the third quarter.
After Gold-Onwude scored her 1,000th point at 6:44, CK scored six straight points in the paint to take its biggest lead of the game, 51-38. But Molloy quickly managed to get back into the game, clawing back to within three, 53-50, with 19.7 seconds remaining in regulation.
Molloy never got closer. Lisa Manetta sank two free throws a second later and Gay capped the scoring with two more with 7.9 left.
“We stepped up the defense in the middle and that was the difference,” said CK head coach Bob Mackey. “They were scoring on us down the paint. We stepped up the defense in the middle, we brought the forwards up higher, we also did a couple of stunts where we stunted a guard at Roz just to get the ball out of her hands.”
“We tried to keep the intensity as long as we could,” said Molloy coach Marty Towey. “They hit some outside shots that we weren’t counting on. They kind of wear you down. They are very good athletes on the other team and they’re very tall.”
Gold-Onwude led all scorers with 18 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals and six assists. McEntee added 12 points for Molloy. Charles, who had 16 rebounds and seven blocks, and Werts and Davis all had 11 for CK. Gay added nine points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks.
Christ the King 81, Bishop Loughlin 71. For the second consecutive game, the Royals needed to overcome a second-half deficit to secure a league win. Loughlin was led by Janelle Henderson’s 22 points.
St. John’s Prep 50, Nazareth 35. The Red Storm was paced by Zaida Natera’s 14 points and 11 each from Meghan Foley and Melissa Mieles. St. John’s Prep improved to 10-3 overall and 7-2 in league play with the win.
St. Francis Prep 65, Kellenberg Memorial 59. In this non-league win, the Terriers were led by Susan Divald’s 25 points and Meghan Sullivan’s 15 as Prep improved to 8-6 overall.
The Mary Louis Academy 50, Bishop Ford 40. The Hilltoppers’ Patricia Zillas scored a team-high 12 points, while freshman point guard Meghan Cumiskey chipped in eight in the win, which improved Mary Louis to 10-7.
Archbishop Molloy 67, Bishop Loughlin 43. Gold-Onwude recorded the double-double, scoring 21 while grabbing 18 boards in this league win last week. Keri-Anne Jetter added 18 in the victory.
St. John’s Prep 50, St. Agnes 31. The Red Storm was paced by Melissa Mieles with 11 and Zaida Natera with 10.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 130.
