It was a game that had “trap” written all over it.
On Saturday afternoon, Christ the King will enjoy all the pomp and circumstance of its annual Nike-hyped game against Rice at Gauchos Gym. But the Royals couldn’t look forwait to that, at least not until at 10 p.m. Friday night. – after their game against Bishop Loughlin in a rematch of last year’s CHSAA Class AA intersectional final.
“Guys were like ‘Rice, Rice!’” junior guard Omar Calhoun sad. “You know guys getting hyped for the game. I’m like, ‘Guys just make sure to stay focused, keep our heads right.’ Because this game and the next game will solidify where we are in New York.”
So far, so good this weekend for the defending city champ.
Calhoun had 13 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter to lead Christ the King to a 70-61 win over Bishop Loughlin in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens boys basketball Friday night in Middle Village. For two hours, the Royals (12-6, 8-2 B/Q) did a fine job putting all their excitement for the Nike game on the back burner as they held the Lions (8-11, 4-6) at bay throughout.
“They’re a really, really tough team to beat when you have Rice on your mind tomorrow at Gauchos Gym,” Royals coach Joe Arbitello said. “It’s not the fact that they’re Rice. It’s that Nike is doing a big thing again like they did last year. There’s photo shoots and everything that they already got called about.”
Calhoun started the fourth quarter on a personal 7-0 run to give Christ the King a 59-45 lead with 7:08 left. The highly touted swingman had a nifty 3-point play and drained a long 3-pointer during the stretch. It seemed like Calhoun, the team’s closer, had put the game away at that point for the Royals.
“When he’s playing hard and he’s rebounding and shooting the ball well, he’s everything everybody predicts him to be when he’s doing those kinds of things,” Arbitello said.
But Loughlin wouldn’t go down without a fight. A 9-2 run capped by a tough inside basket by Joel Angus got the Lions within 61-54 with 3:50 to go. Loughlin picked up turnovers off its press and when precocious freshman Devyn Wilson drained a 3-pointer from the right corner with 37.9 seconds left, his team was down just two possessions, 67-61.
“We could never put them away,” Arbitello said. “They were resilient. They played hard.”
CK made its free throws, though, and Loughlin ran out of time. Chris Ortiz had 10 points and T.J. Curry added nine for the Royals. Davonte Dunham had 14 points, Angus had 12 points and Khadeen Carrington added 10 for the Lions.
Ortiz said this game reminded of Martin Luther King Day – only in reverse. On Jan. 17, Christ the King had a big win on national television against Westchester Country Day (N.C.) only to follow that up with a loss to Xaverian a day later.
“That was the only thing stuck in my head,” Ortiz said. “I didn’t want to get upset.”
That’s why Calhoun and the other leaders, like Corey Edwards and Terrel Hunt, talked to the team about taking it one game at a time. Arbitello talked to them about winning the Brooklyn/Queens regular-season title – the only championship CK didn’t earn in last season’s New York State Federation Class AA title run.
Calhoun made sure it stuck.
“Honestly, we know Omar is gonna lead us in points,” Ortiz said. “That’s off the bat. Everybody on the team for the most part respects that. What it comes down to is Omar makes plays.”
