By Joseph Staszewski
Kaela Kinder had more on her mind than leading Christ the King to a division title when she stepped on the court against Bishop Loughlin.
The junior forward knew her father John, who had been in surgery earlier in the day, wasn’t going to be courtside cheering her on and telling her to be aggressive.
“He never missed a game before and I just needed to play for him today,” Kinder said. “He’s always saying shoot the ball, shoot the ball! Go out there and be important and that’s just what I tried to do today.”
All she did was turn in her best performance of the year in arguably the Royals’ most important game of the season with her dad in mind. Kinder scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help propel Christ the King to a 69-56 home win over second-place Bishop Loughlin Feb. 18 to claim the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I girls’ basketball regular season crown.
Kinder, who was called the team’s X-Factor when the season started, played the role perfectly against the Lions in the winner-take-all contest. She hit jumpers, attacked the paint, rebounded and created transition with steals.
CK coach Bob Mackey called it Kinder’s most consistent game of the season and praised the way she handled her dad not being there. He knows his club is that much better with Kinder going well, especially with guard Dominique Toussaint limited by a sprained ankle.
“When she’s going, we are a whole, whole, lot better,” Mackey said.
The victory is Christ the King’s fifth straight after falling to Long Island Lutheran on the road Feb. 4. Sydney Zambrotta scored 19 points and Toussaint added nine. It was an extra sweet win because the Lions handed the Royals their only league loss by rallying from a 16-point deficit. CK (14-7) earned the top seed in the upcoming diocesan tournament in a year where there were plenty of question marks around the team when the season began.
“It shows we have the best team and we have the best individual players as well,” Toussaint said. “It shows that we are on top and we deserve to be on top.”
Her club’s superb job on the defensive end was also a key to the win. CK hustled to get out to the Lions shooters in its 2-3 zone and quickly collapsed on any player in the paint. It frustrated Loughlin (19-5), until the Brooklyn school made a run in the fourth quarter. Lions star Milicia Reid scored 16 of her 19 points in the final frame.
CK saw Loughlin cut its 10-point second quarter lead to three, before Kinder scored the final six points of the frame to put the Royals up 24-15 at the break. It was highlighted by a transition layup off a behind-the-back pass from Zambrotta. Kinder’s three-point play to end the third quarter put Christ the King ahead 40-26 heading into the final period.
The Lions twice pulled within eight in the fourth quarter. CK had an answer each time. Zambrotta converted a layup with 3:53 to go and Kinder found Ashlie Howell for a bucker the put the game away with 2:29 remaining.
It was just one of the many plays Kinder planned on telling her father about when she went back to the hospital to visit him that night.
“He is going to be really happy,” Kinder said. “He is going to be upset that he missed it, of course, but he is going to be really happy we came out No. 1 and I played well.”
