By Zach Braziller
Corey Edwards didn’t commit a mistake this time.
Unlike last year’s meeting with Boys & Girls, when the junior point guard forced a potential game-winning layup in the waning seconds, Edwards made all the clutch plays down the stretch.
He scored 25 points, including a pivotal three-pointer to break a 46-all tie with 39 seconds remaining, as the Royals held off Boys & Girls 52-49 in the STOP-DWI Holiday Classic final Dec. 30 in Binghamton, N.Y. — their third tournament title in four visits.
“It’s a championship and we got to redeem ourselves from last year,” Christ the King Coach Joe Arbitello said. “It was a good tournament. It was definitely, definitely, definitely something we can be proud of.”
Edwards earned tournament MVP honors, Maurice Barrow added nine points and 16 rebounds and Dominykas Milka followed with seven for the Royals. Leroy Isler and Mike Taylor each had 16 points for the Kangaroos (8-3) and earned all-tournament honors, as did Barrow and Milka. Antoine Slaughter added 10, but missed a game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer.
Undefeated Christ the King (5-0) led 37-27 at one point, but had to hold off the Kangaroos’ furious fourth-quarter rally. Slaughter got The High even on a three-pointer with 3:37 to go, capping a 9-1 run, and Jerry White got the game tied against with 39 seconds to go with a scoop layup.
Edwards, however, wouldn’t let the Royals lose, draining the go-ahead three-pointer and scoring 11 of his team’s final 12 points. He also had five assists, a number that would’ve been higher had CK made more shots around the basket, Arbitello said.
It was similar to last year’s matchup at St. John’s University. As was the case in that game, Christ the King led much of the way, only this time the Royals held on late. The difference was an older, more mature Edwards.
“We were missing shots, and we decided he needed to score, so that’s what he did,” Arbitello said. “They said let Corey Edwards beat us. He was able to get in the lane. When they stepped back off him, he hit a couple of threes. They didn’t adjust to that. They thought he was going to eventually miss. I guess he never did.”
Reach Zach Braziller at zbraziller@nypost.com.
