Year: Senior
Sport: Basketball
The senior guard led Christ the King to the Catholic state Class A championship, scoring 15 points along with four assists and three steals in a 51-46 win over Holy Trinity of Long Island last Saturday at Hofstra University.
The win extends the Royals’ season. They will travel to Glens Falls the last weekend of March for the State Federation tournament, where CK (15-12) will meet the PSAL representative, either John Bowne of Flushing or Staten Island’s Curtis, in the semifinals.
Pena deserves much of the credit. She scored four points in the fourth quarter, including the two that gave the Royals the lead for good midway through the final stanza, and controlled the game’s pace, not to mention her usual suffocating on-the-ball defense.
“Jael put the team on her shoulders,” Christ the King Coach Bob Mackey said.” She refused to give up. Jael’s a fighter.”
It isn’t the Class AA title Christ the King has been so accustomed to winning, but it is nevertheless rewarding to Pena, who was part of the Royals’ undefeated national championship team as a sophomore
“I’m really excited we get to go there again,” she said of Glens Falls.
