By Joseph Staszewski
The more important the games get the better Kaela Kinder seems to play.
The Christ the King junior has taken her game to the next level in the last two weeks. She turned in her most complete performance to date in the top-seeded Royals’ 52-37 victory over No. 3 Archbishop Molloy in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens girls’ basketball final at Molloy Sunday afternoon.
Kinder scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half and grabbed 16 rebounds to help the Royals claim their second straight crown and 28th in the last 31 tries.
“I’m speechless. That was a hell of a performance,” junior guard Dominique Toussaint said. “I think if there was an MVP award, she would have got it.”
Christ the King led just 20-16 after a sloppy first half before quickly establishing things would be different after the break. The Royals clamped down even more on defense. They ripped off a 17-6 run over the third and fourth quarters to go ahead 42-26 with 6:32 to go in the final frame. Kinder scored 12 of those points and Sydney Zambrotta (19 points) converted a 4-point play during the spurt.
“Playing like this and helping my team out feels good because we are advancing, we are blowing teams out and everyone is happy,” Kinder said.
Christ the King coach Bob Mackey again called Kinder the X-factor. She scored a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds to help CK beat Bishop Loughlin, to enable her team to secure the regular season crown and to roll up 15 points against Mary Louis.
“You know what Dom does. You know what Sid does,” Mackey said. “Kaela is the difference. This year she grew up.”
His team also succeed in refocusing and rededicating itself on defense, an area Mackey was unhappy with after a 61-59 victory over Mary Louis in the semifinals. CK (20-6) made it hard to find uncontested shots and driving lanes for Molloy. Toussaint and Raven Dowling helped hold Stanners point guard Kaitlyn Mahon to just three points.
“The defense in the second half was tremendous,” Mackey said.
Ashlie Howell controlled the paint. The only Molloy player in double figures was Quinnipiac-bound forward Aryn McClure with 10 points. She was hampered by thigh cramps throughout the game. Emily Peckham added eight points and Nicole Teta had seven. Toussaint chipped in eight for thes Royals.
Molloy (19-7), especially its seniors, was left disappointed after not playing its best in the program’s third straight Diocesan final. McClure believed her team didn’t execute as well as it used to and didn’t make shots that normally go down. It was the Stanners’ third loss to Christ the King this season.
“We weren’t very efficient,” McClure said. “We weren’t very cohesive.”
Both teams’ seasons continue into the Catholic Class AA state tournament. Christ the King gets a bye into the semifinals March 13 at home and Molly takes the court again in the quarterfinals March 10 at St. Francis Prep. The Royals think they have plenty of momentum as the team looks to book its ticket to the state Federation tournament in Albany.
“We are going on a run and hopefully it continues,” Kinder said.
