By Joseph Staszewski
Christ the King didn’t want to point to missed shots and foul trouble as the reasons for its lopsided loss to rival Bishop Loughlin in the diocesan final. Instead, it was their lack of will, hunger and execution as well as the inability to stop Lions star Khadeen Carrington.
“We didn’t get any of the 50-50 balls, any of the hustle plays,” Royals center Adonis Delarosa said. “We just didn’t get to them. They just wanted it more.”
Carrington poured in a career-high 42 points to help his team hand defending champion Christ the King a 90-77 defeat in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queen basketball title game last Friday night at St. Francis Prep. The Seton Hall-bound guard and CHSAA most valuable player shot 14 of 16 from the field and made all 14 of his free throws.
“Khadeen Carrington is so under control and [is] making shots,” Christ the King Coach Joe Arbitello said. “He’s tough to guard when he is that good.”
Loughlin used a 12-1 run to take a 26-15 lead after the first quarter. The Royals’ hustle didn’t always translate into points. Delarosa had trouble getting started inside the paint amid Loughlin’s double teams and missed free throws. Early foul trouble to Andre Walker didn’t help the Royals’ cause. Delarosa scored 24 points, Travis Atson put up 22 and Rawle Alkins added 17.
Christ the King (19-6) attempted to mount a rally late in the second quarter even with Walker and Alkin on the bench with foul trouble. Atson connected on consecutive three-pointers to cut the Loughlin lead to 43-33 with a minute to play before the half. Loughlin (20-5) responded by closing the quarter with two three-pointers around two missed CK free throws to go up 49-33 at the break. The first was by Williams after he hustled down his own rebound and the second by Darius James at the buzzer off an inbounds play.
“[The Lions] played the way they were supposed to play — tough, hard, together,” Arbitello said. “They continue to play that way they are going to win.”
Arbitello said his group got a lesson in how hard it is to win a championship and the level teams need to play at. Losing two straight diocesan finals and last year’s city title game motivated Loughlin. The Lions’ core players have been in big games like this before.
“I think they needed that to let them understand,” Arbitello said about his team’s loss to Loughlin. “Now we know what it takes to get there.”
Delarosa said he and his teammates have already put this loss behind them because they must. Their focus is now defending their city title in the intersectional playoffs. Christ the King awaits the winner of St. Raymond and Stepinac in the quarterfinals March 1 at Fordham University.
“You can’t change [anything] about it,” Delarosa said. “Now we just have to get into the gym and work.”
