Confronting the best of Brooklyn and Queens did not faze the basketballers of Christ the King Regional High School this past weekend. By the time they emerged from matchups with Brooklyn’s Xaverian and Queens’ Mary Louis Academy, they had planted their flags on two new mountaintops. The best of Brooklyn and Queens, it turns out, is Christ the King.
The boys achieved CK’s first Diocesan championship of 2009 – and their team’s first such title since 2006 – on Friday, February 27, defeating Xaverian 66-60 at home. The Royals had coasted to a 59-41 victory the last time the teams met, but that was on December 21. On Friday, Xaverian looked as if it were up to CK’s challenge.
The Clippers brought their own sizeable (and vocal) cheering section to the bleachers in Middle Village. Their 6’4” senior guard, Rasheem King, was planted (or tried to be) on Royals star Sean Johnson all night. And through the first two quarters, just a one-point margin was keeping Christ the King above water.
That changed early in the third, when the Royals went on a seven-point run to take a lead that was never relinquished. Johnson, a senior guard, emerged unscathed from some hard contact with King and scored 29 points, 18 of them in the second half. Asked after the game if the defender gave him a hard time, “Not at all” was his cheeky response.
Johnson was named league MVP the preceding Tuesday, and the witnesses to Friday’s game sounded unanimously supportive.
“You could see the look in his eyes early in the game that he wanted to win the game,” said Xaverian head coach Jack Alesi, named Coach of the Year himself.
“It’s nice to have the best player on the court,” said Christ the King head coach Joe Arbitello, who is in his first year. “He does more than just score. … I thought my number-one obstacle would be to get Sean Johnson on the same page as me, [but] he was on board with what we were trying to do.”
Arbitello and Johnson clicked right away, with the senior understanding his intended role as unselfish leader and the coach understanding the importance of Johnson as a steady mark of continuity.
“Sean’s been talking all season about keeping your composure and being poised,” said sophomore guard Corey Edwards.
Arbitello, the school’s athletic director, replaced legendary head coach Bob Oliva early this season because of Oliva’s heart problems. Arbitello’s transition was seamless, although it helped to have four active assistants.
“It’s been a real great ride for me,” Arbitello said. “I’m pretty much high on this season.”
Edwards and junior forward Maurice Barrow, each of whom scored 10 points, represented a less recognized cog in Christ the King’s offense, with Edwards’ vision and Barrow’s size producing some impressive connecting passes and subsequent field goals. In the fourth quarter, a gorgeous Edwards bounce pass from the left side navigated Xaverian’s defense and found Barrow under the net; the forward’s dunk put a large exclamation atop the Royals’ growing lead.
“Corey helped us with great passes and just controlled the team,” Johnson said.
The young Edwards has been lucky to play under the tutelage of assistant coach Derrick Phelps, a former point guard who graduated from CK and left the University of North Carolina with the school record for career steals.
“Most kids don’t have that,” Edwards said.
Xaverian did narrow the Royals’ lead to lead to five in the waning minutes, with the score at 62-57 with 34.3 left. But free throws, especially from Edwards, helped Christ the King stay on top. A succession of crisp, foul-evading passes allowed the Royals to drain the clock thereafter. After the final buzzer sounded, they congregated at half-court and celebrated their first Diocesan championship since 2006.
“I thought it was a very well-played game. I thought the enormity of the game got us a little excited,” Alesi said. “Hopefully we get a chance to see them again.”
What did it feel like for the Royals?
“You don’t know!” Edwards said jubilantly. “Nine o’clock practices, 10:00 practices — that’s what we work hard for. That’s what we prepared for.”
Similar elation could be found a day later at St. Francis Prep, where the CK girls’ team topped the Mary Louis Academy 67-53 for its own Diocesan championship. The win represented vindication for the Lady Royals, who were upset a year earlier, in the same game, by Archbishop Molloy and have talked all season about reclaiming the title.
Only late in the third quarter did Christ the King pull away, and fears of another upset were probably exacerbated as senior forward Tahira Johnson went in and out of the game with an injury to her left knee. Mary Louis had finished below CK in the division, but Johnson was a 20-point scorer limited to only eight on Saturday. Sophomore guard Bria Smith’s 20 points led the way.
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