By Joseph Staszewski
Bishop Loughlin’s makeup should have looked familiar to Christ the King because the Royals have relied on a similar chemistry to clinch important victories in previous years.
The Royals have been New York City’s most successful boys’ basketball program over the last five seasons because of their talent and strong roster of seniors who have refused to lose in the post season. For the 2010 state title team, it was Maurice Barrow, T.J. Curry and Dominykas Milka. Last year it was Jon Severe, Malik Harmon and Jordan Fuchs.
This year it’s Loughlin whose nine seniors are tired of losing after the Lions came so close to diocesan and city titles the last three years. It has the killer backcourt in Seton Hall-bound Khadeen Carrington and Mike Williams. The Royals learned what it is like to be on the other side of a team like that during their 90-77 loss in the Brooklyn/Queen title game last Friday at St. Francis Prep. Carrington missed two shots and scored a career-high 42 points.
“They played like they were supposed to,” CK Coach Joe Arbitello said of Loughlin. “They played like seniors who wanted to win a Brooklyn/Queens championship.”
Christ the King’s squad is still inexperienced when it comes to winning games during this part of the season. Center Adonis Delarosa has been tremendous during the stretch run, but guards Andre Walker and Bryler Paige played supporting roles last year. Junior Travis Atson and sophomore Rawle Alkins are in their first real full seasons where they are seeing major minutes on the varsity level because of an injury and a late call-up from the junior varsity squad. The loss to Loughlin was a learning experience.
“We have some young guys that weren’t able to produce at a high level [tonight] because they are so young,” Delarosa said.
The Royals have proven they can beat Loughlin. They shellacked the Lions 67-49 in Middle Village earlier this month. The pieces and the talent are there to win Christ the King’s fourth city title in the last five years. The road won’t be easy. The Royals will likely have to beat Archdiocesan champion Cardinal Hayes, another team laden with hungry seniors, in the intersectional semifinals even before it can get another crack at Loughlin.
“We’re Christ the King,” Arbitello said. “We are not sinking the ship here. They are going to get our best effort the next time.”
They will need that effort and then some because the two biggest threats to dethrone them have the intangible quality that comes with having a roster stacked with determined, playoff-tested seniors. The Royals rode that same hunger to city championships in the past. Now they must combat it and overcome it to remain on top.
