Christ the King sophomore Rawle Alkins predicted that his team would defeat league rivals Bishop Loughlin in their Sunday rematch.
The Royals had lost the first match-up against their Brooklyn/Queens AA conference rivals in a close 76-74 game, but Alkins knew the outcome would be different.
“I just felt confident,” Alkins said. “If you look at their team and you look at our team, we have so many mismatches it’s not even funny.”
Alkins prediction came through as the Christ the King Royals dominated the second half, led by senior big man Adonis Delarosa, who had 23 points and 13 rebounds, leading the Royals to a 67-49 blowout of the Loughlin Lions. Alkins added 12 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks, and junior forward Travis Atson had 21 points and 11 rebounds to the win.
With the win, Christ the King improved to 18-5 overall (14-3 in conference) taking over the lead from Loughlin, 18-5 overall (13-3 in conference), and secured at least a tie for the regular season title.
The difference in this game was Delarosa, who scored just three points in the first half, but suddenly came alive in the second half.
Being mismatched against smaller sized and less athletic opponents, the nearly 7-foot 265-pound center took advantage of his size to score and get to the foul line, where he shot 11 of 14.
“I just knew they couldn’t guard me,” Delarosa said.
His abilities were fully shown when, with just 1:03 remaining, he wrapped around a defender and slammed a two-handed dunk, causing the crowd to explode as the score became 63-44.
Then the big man sprinted back on defense to swat a layup. Although the block was called goal tending, it sent the crowd into louder cheers of “CK, CK, CK.”
Delarosa’s performance was even more meaningful as he had just come of a two-game suspension for committing a flagrant foul in the previous Loughlin game.
Because he couldn’t play, he had to watch his teammates lose to Archbishop Molloy in their last game, 71-68 in overtime.
“I knew if I was on the court, I would have made a difference,” Delarosa said. “It really hurts watching my guys play from the sidelines.”
The next game for Christ the King will be against Brooklyn Law Tech on Feb. 12.
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