Elizabeth (Gurt) Lynch dropped in 13 points for Archbishop Molloy. (Kendall Rodriguez)
Bria Smith knew exactly where the ball was going next with the clock ticking down in the third quarter. In the Christ the King guard’s mind it couldn’t be headed anywhere else.
“I knew they were trying to get it to the high post to get it to Kyra [Aloizos],” Smith said. “I knew I should get that.”
So when Archbishop Molloy’s Kathryn Edwards turned and threw a pass to the top of the key, Smith broke and tipped the ball out to half court. She raced down and beat the buzzer with a layup to put the Royals up three heading into the fourth quarter.
Christ the King carried the momentum for the entire final quarter and pulled away for a 68-55 win over Archbishop Molloy in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I semifinals at Archbishop Molloy Sunday night.
“That was a big play. She really extended herself, had a great line on it,” CK coach Bob Mackey said. “With four seconds left in the quarter, I think that’s a big momentum builder.”
The Royals’ big-game experience took over from there. Rayne Connell frustrated Molloy point guard Marielle Duryea and Christ the King turned up its defensive intensity, which Mackey called “porous” early on. The Stanners scored just nine points and had one field goal, an Amani Tatum 3-pointer, with 7.9 seconds left. Christ the King went on a 14-2 run to start the quarter, highlighted by a Jackie Michel 3-pointer to extend its lead to 63-48.
“I think our attitudes in the first [half] kind of messed us up,” Smith said “We were a little just go, go, go, go, go. We should have just been the way were in the fourth, settling everything down.”
Smith scored 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds and collected her 1,000th point on a second-quarter free throw. Nia Oden had 18 points and nine boards, Ariel Edwards scored 14 points and Michel had six for CK (20-5). Aloizos scored 18 points, Elizabeth (Gurt) Lynch had 13, Amani Tatum 12 and Duryea 10 for Molloy (11-15). The Stanners played without guard Kelly Guerriero, who sprained her ankle in a quarterfinals win over St. Francis Prep.
“Bria just turned it up in the fourth quarter,” Aloizos said. “Defensively they played great. We couldn’t make a shot.”
Her team played inspired basketball for three quarters. Duryea, Tatum and Kathryn Edwards handled the Royals’ pressure and Lynch had one of her best games on both ends this season. She scored nine second-quarter points to pull Molloy within 37-32 at the half and scored four straight points to cut the CK lead to 47-46 with 44.5 left in the third.
“She is starting to feel more comfortable out there,” Stanners coach Tom Catalanotto said.
While Molloy hoped to carry the momentum into the CHSAA Class A state playoffs, the Royals get a familiar foe in the finals as they try to repeat. They play Mary Louis for the second straight year 6 p.m. Tuesday at St. John’s Prep.
Smith and her timely steal was a big reason why.
“It was a great game changer for everybody at that point,” Oden said. “We excelled from there.”
