Christ the King enjoys Garden party

Bob Oliva didn’t want to see a sub-par week turn worse.
Knowing the effects that playing at Madison Square Garden can have on high school athletes, from the new rims to the large arena, the Christ the King coach got his players to the World’s Most Famous Arena early for an 11 a.m. shoot around - two hours before they tipped off against PSAL power Wings of the Bronx in the opener of the Nike Super Six Invitational.
That decision, the numbers revealed, certainly paid off. The Royals shot over 57 percent (31-of-54) from the field and 46 percent (6-of-13) from 3-point range en route to a 74-63 torching of Wings, their first appearance at the Garden since a regular-season win over Molloy in 1998.
“That’s what just settled me down, just shooting, getting the feel of the rims. It helped us out,” said junior forward Ryan Pearson, who led CK with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Fellow junior, guard Erving Walker, earned Most Outstanding Player honors with 18 points and four assists. “We laughed all together, had fun at the shoot around, and once we got back to the locker room, we knew it was game time.”
Wings hung tough for most of the first half, but an 18-5 CK run, bridging the second and third quarters, put the game away.
Malik Boothe, the St. John’s recruit who will be playing his home games here next year, capped the first half by drilling an NBA-range trey at the horn. He added another 3-pointer to start the second half, Pearson scored inside and sophomore Sean Johnson finished twice more to push the lead to 13. Wings got to within four at one point, but Pearson stopped the spurt with an impressive coast-to-coast three-point play in the lane.
“It felt good,” he said of playing on the Knicks home floor. “It’s what I wanted to do since I was a child. I’m real excited right now.”
“Madison Square Garden? How many people can say they played here?” Walker crowed. “When I first started, I was star struck.”
The rangy 6-foot-5 Pearson is somewhat overshadowed by the Royals dynamic backcourt. On a night he put up better numbers, Walker took home the hardware. And while Boothe and Walker (Florida) have each found a college, Pearson has yet to begin the search in earnest. Playing with them, however, is not something he will gripe about.
“It’s fun,” he said. “I know they look for me on the break, on the block. … It helps me greatly. Even though they are being looked at - I do all the dirty work for them, back them up.”
For the Royals (11-2, 3-1 CHSAA AA West), it was a fine bounce-back performance. After dropping their first league game to Holy Cross and scoring just 45 points in an overtime victory over Molloy.
“Everybody goes through [their] ups and downs in a season,” Pearson said. “We knew we weren’t going to go undefeated. It’s better to take a hit earlier in the season and bounce back.”