By Joseph Staszewski
Christ the King’s Jon Severe calf was cramping and he was struggling for shots with Cardinal Hayes’ Tyler Wilson crowding him throughout the game in the CHSAA Class AA intersectional semifinal at Fordham University Thursday night.
But Royals Coach Joe Arbitello still didn’t hesitate to call his top scorer’s number to take the game’s most important shot off an out-of-bounds play.
“Was I suppose to run it for somebody else?” Arbitello said. “We are running it from him.”
Severe delivered. The senior guard ran Wilson off a screen set by 6-foot-10, 250-pound center Adonis Delarosa and got an open look at the three-pointer from the left side. Severe hit nothing but net. It was the 1,000th point of his career and put the Royals up five with 55 seconds left to play.
Cardinal Hayes never seriously threatened again and CK held on for a 65-59 win. Severe, who had just 10 points, wanted the ball just as much as Arbitello wanted to give it to him.
“My motor never stopped – no way was I coming out of the game,” said Severe, who began cramping late in the third quarter. “I wasn’t going to sit on the bench and watch something happen.”
His teammates made things happen without him. Delarosa scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and clogged up the middle on defense. Malik Harmon (13 points) iced the game at the free throw line late and handled the Hayes pressure. Isaiah Colbert tallied 11 points and hit big 3-pointers.
“We had to pick up the slack for [Jon],” Harmon said. “They wanted to shut him down and it opened it up for Adonis and other guys.”
Christ the King (25–3) went on an 8-2 run to open up a 57-50 lead with 3:33 left to play. Hayes (21-8) and Chris Robinson, who scored 23 points, countered with an 8-0 spurt. Robinson’s second 3-pointer of the run pulled the Cardinals within 57-55 before Severe’s shot. Freshman Rawle Alkin’s block of Shavar Newkirk’s 3-pointer with 30 seconds left squashed any hopes of a comeback.
The Royals advance to their fourth final in the last five years after being upset in the quarterfinals last season. They face Bishop Loughlin 3 p.m. Sunday back at Fordham for the fourth time this season. CK has won the three previous meetings.
Arbitello believes his team can do it again.
“They are good,” Arbitello said. “That’s the only reason I don’t want to see them again. They are the second best team after us.”
Reach reporter Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@cnglocal.com. Follow him on twitter @cng_staszewski.
