Lack of size no issue for CK guards

In basketball, size and length always tends to factor in. The team with the advantage in that category usually enjoys the edge but not against Christ the King's starting backcourt.
Despite a starting duo - 5-foot-9 point guard Malik Boothe and 5-foot-7 shooting guard Erving Walker - well under 6-feet, Christ the King has arguably the best pair in the city. &#8220I think we have the quickest backcourt,” Boothe said.
Last year, the Royals actually used that height differential to their advantage. The key to their success is rather simple. The tenacious Boothe guards the opposition's top player - last year he consistently frustrated Rice's Edgar Sosa, now playing for former Knicks coach Rick Pitino at the University of Louisville - while the speedy Walker shadows the other guard, who, in high school ball, is more often than not closer to his size.
And on the offensive end, &#8220they have to guard us, so I'd say it's more of an advantage to us,” Walker said.
Their lack of size obviously hasn't turned off prospective suitors. Highly recruited, Boothe has committed to St. John's while Walker has an array of high-level Division I schools to choose from including national champion Florida, Illinois, Villanova, Seton Hall, Stanford, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
For this duo, which started every game last year, helping the Royals reach the CHSAA Class A city and state championship games, ultimately falling to Rice, the size question is something they've answered repeatedly. Walker says he still hears it before games. &#8220From the beginning of my career [I heard] ‘you're too little.' It doesn't bother me anymore,” Walker said. &#8220I just block it out and play my game.”
After last year's performance, when the two started alongside one another, coach Bob Oliva and Boothe both say they don't hear the taunts. What Boothe lacks in size, he more than makes up for with his work ethic and ability as a pass-first guard, a rare player who can dominate a game without filling up the score sheet.
Oliva calls him the third-best defender in his lengthy tenure at the Middle Village school; he lists only Will Poole, now a starting cornerback with the Miami Dolphins, and former North Carolina standout Derrick Phelps, who Hall of Fame Coach Dean Smith labeled his best defender, ahead of him.
&#8220Harass, harass,” said Oliva in describing Boothe. &#8220He's just committed, that's the way he conducts his life. This is a throwback kid from the old days. He's a lunch-pail kid.”
A year after leading the freshman team to the city championship, Walker struggled to find his groove, somehow averaging 14 points per game nevertheless. With a year under his belt on the varsity level, &#8220he's much more comfortable,” Oliva said of the sweet-shooting junior. &#8220Erving's going to score more points, no question about it.”
Joined in the backcourt by 6-foot-1 sophomore Sean Johnson, and agile big men Ryan Pearson and Andrew Gabriel, the Royals, ranked 18th in USA Today's Super 25 national rankings, are primed for a memorable season.
&#8220Our main focus,” Boothe said, &#8220is to win a city championship”