Royals Reign

Hampton leads Christ the King to Brooklyn-Queens Diocesan Title
BY ZACHARY BRAZILLER
When facing Christ the King, opponents tend to focus on Larry Davis, the N.C. State recruit, or the two diminutive yet outstandingly versatile guards - the 5-foot-6 defensive specialist Malik Boothe and 5-foot-4 sophomore Erving Walker. That often leaves Rob Hampton with plenty of opportunities.
He capitalized on all of them Friday night. The 6-foot-3 senior forward led the Royals to their first Brooklyn-Queens Diocesan title in three years over Holy Cross, 67-61, at Bishop Ford, scoring eight of his team-high 17 points in the opening quarter, sparking Christ the King to an early 27-13 advantage. “I kind of like it,” Hampton said of his secondary status. “I don’t have to worry about [opposing] teams game-planning for me.”
Christ the King Coach Bob Oliva, however, doesn’t understand how the team’s leading scorer (at 13.5 points a game, Hampton pushed ahead of Davis) can be overlooked. “He doesn’t surprise me,” Oliva said. “He’s been as solid as can be for us.”
After finally convincing his mom to allow him to tryout for the football team, Hampton earned second-team all-league honors as a wide receiver, catching six touchdowns for the CHSFL ‘AA’ Conference II champions. Hampton said the daily pounding has helped him as an undersized power forward. “It made me stronger,” he said. “I’m so used to a guy trying to bring me down, accidental contact doesn’t bother me.”
After losing two of three, the Royals have caught a second wind, reeling off six straight wins. The win streak coincided with the re-emergence of Davis, who broke the Middle Village school’s record for most 3-pointers in a game with eight in a non-league victory over Cardozo a few weeks back.
“The key was Larry Davis,” said Oliva, who notched his 499th career victory. “He really turned up his game. He can do so many things. He rebounds, he handles the ball, he guards.”
True. Yet on a night Davis managed just 12 points, the Royals (22-3) reminded everyone about their plethora of scoring options. Walker and Andrew Gabriel each scored 11 and the sophomore reserve Drew Pearson added nine.
“One game, I’ll be the leading scorer,” Hampton said, “the next game it will be Larry or Erv or Malik. We don’t really have a leading scorer. We score as a group.”
Holy Cross (14-12) lost to the Royals for the second time, but made a game of it late. Trailing by 21 at one point in the third quarter they suddenly caught fire, going on a 13-0 run behind eight points from the sensational sophomore Sylven Landesberg (19 points). Hampton pushed the lead back to 14 early in the fourth quarter but the Knights came storming back again, cutting the lead to four on a Laurence Jolicoeur 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining. Walker, however, iced the game with a pair of free-throws.
“We didn’t play as well as we would’ve liked in the first half,” Holy Cross Coach Paul Gilvary said. “You have to compete at a high level to play with them.”