By Zach Braziller
Christ the King was down seven points, Thomas Jefferson’s tiny inferno of a gymnasium was rocking and Joe Arbitello couldn’t have been happier.
This was exactly what the Royals coach imagined Saturday when he scheduled a visit to the rugged Public Schools Athletic League powerhouse to kick off the basketball season.
“It was good they had to come out there and fight and battle and see how good they are,” said Arbitello, who noted it was the first road game in a PSAL gym for the Queens school since 1978.
Christ the King got the answer it was looking for. It responded to the adversity as Arbitello hoped — by punching back — and went on to an impressive 92-81 victory in East New York. UConn-bound senior Omar Calhoun led the junior-heavy Royals with 25 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, but got plenty of help from backcourt mates Jon Severe (22 points) and Isaiah Lewis (17).
The three had their way with the young Orange Wave, scoring on a variety of dazzling drives to the basket and long jump shots after beating Jefferson’s press.
“There aren’t three guards better than those three guards in the city,” Jefferson Coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard said.
The game turned late in the first half, with Christ the King closing on a 17-8 run behind six points from Severe. CK (1-0) got out of the gate in the third quarter just as fast, scoring 20 of the game’s next 24 points that was capped by Lewis’ running one-hander along the baseline.
“Coach told us at half time that they played their best basketball and we were up by two still,“ Calhoun said. “So all we had to do is come out in the third quarter, come out firing hot and expand the lead and from there they wouldn’t be able to come back.”
Tiring of seeing Jefferson’s small but elusive guards find their way into the paint, Arbitello switched to zone and the undersized Orange Wave, without sharpshooter Thaddeus Hall, went cold from the perimeter and were stifled by the Royals’ size, notably Jordan Fuchs (11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists) and Marthely Senat (16 rebounds).
“Thaddeus could’ve shot them out of the zone,” Pollard lamented. “The zone hurt us a little bit. It slowed the game down. It was definitely to their advantage.”
Junior Jaquan Lynch (29 points) nearly shot the Brooklyn school back into the game, hitting consecutive three-pointers to trim the deficit to seven at one point before Calhoun responded with the dagger, a deep 3 of his own to push the lead back to 10 with 4:59 left. Lewis followed and Severe added a layup and a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.
“It’s great to start the season like this,” Calhoun said. “All we can do is get better.”
It also put to rest the notion one ball isn’t enough for the loaded three-man backcourt of Calhoun, Lewis and Severe. Severe said he’s heard the entire preseason about it, how there would be problems. It wasn’t an issue against Jefferson.
“It’s not like that,” he said. “We have to play together to win.”
There were plenty of areas of improvement — such as free-throw shooting, defense and ball protection — Arbitello singled out afterward. One area he was extremely pleased with.
“You can’t teach heart,” the coach said. “That part we have down.”
