For 31 minutes Thursday night, Jon Severe was bottled up, given no room to maneuver by Cardinal Hayes’ Tyler Wilson.
Wherever Severe went, the dogged Manhattan College-bound Wilson followed, and Christ the King was unable to shake the Cardinals as a result.
Finally, with his team nursing a two-point lead and just a minute remaining, the highly recruited uncommitted prospect was given just enough space behind an Adonis Delarosa screen.
His 3-pointer splashed the nets, the biggest shot in a game full of big shots and his only points of the second half, as Christ the King held off Hayes, 65-59, in the CHSAA Class AA intersectional semifinals at Fordham University Thursday night.
“That’s why everyone in the country is offering him,” Christ the King coach Joe Arbitello said of Severe, who was limited by severe cramps in the second half and reached 1,000 points for his career with the jumper. He sat out pockets of the game, but refused to see his team’s season end on the bench.
“My motor never stopped — no way was I coming out of the game,” he said. “I wasn’t going to sit on the bench and watch something happen.”
The Royals will meet Bishop Loughlin in Sunday’s championship game at 3 p.m., also at Fordham, the fourth time they’re in the final in five years.
“I’m spoiled as a head coach,” Arbitello said.
Christ the King (24-3) was only ahead late because the Royals’ supporting cast was superb, led by dynamic freshman Rawle Alkins. He put the Royals ahead for good with a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter, added a dunk in the fourth quarter and a huge block late of a Shavar Newkirk 3-pointer.
Point guard Malik Harmon led the way for the Royals with 13 points — including four clutch free throws in the final minute — Isaiah Cosbert had 11 and Delarosa added 10, as did Severe. They all had a hand in a game-turning, 17-3 run bridging the third and fourth quarters that erased a four-point deficit.
“We had to pick up the slack for [Jon],” Harmon said. “They wanted to shut him down and it opened it up for Adonis and other guys.”
Chris Robinson led Hayes with 23 points and Newkirk had 14.
The victory sets up a fourth meeting with Bishop Loughlin. Though Christ the King has won the previous three meetings, Loughlin star Khadeen Carrington said he felt the Lions were superior. Severe didn’t pay attention to the junior’s bold words.
“That’s how Loughlin is; they talk. We play,” he said. “We’re not worried about Loughlin; they’re worried about us.”
zbraziller@nypost.com
