Christ the King Commits Molloy Home Invasion

BRIARWOOD, NY - Legions of fans from both teams packed the Jack Curran Gymnasium for Friday evening's CHSAA game between NYCHoops.net #3 ranked Christ the King (9-1) and #8 Archbishop Molloy (8-2). In the end, the Royals would eventually run down Molloy, 83-76.

"[This] was the best win of the season for us because it was a complete team win," said CK Head Coach Joe Arbitello

Senior Gabe Kilpatrick (15 points) put Molloy on the map early with a trey but 6'4" junior Travis Atson (16 points & 12 rebounds) countered in transition. The Royals dominated the boards early but Molloy looked to push the rock to help negate their size disadvantage.

With 4:53 left in the first Columbia-bound point guard C.J. Davis (24 points) kept Molloy barely ahead 8-7. 7'0" Adonis Delarosa (18 points & 10 rebounds), who was the center of attention of jeering Molly fans, would begin to create havoc inside and soon CK took the lead by 2.

Rawle Alkins (16 points & 6 rebounds) ignited the crowd with a power dunk and a 3-ball late in the quarter as CK raced ahead 20-12 with 1:04 left but the super-sophomore suffered a bruised rib which limited his minutes. Dela Rosa also got into early foul trouble and Coach Arbitello had to go deep into his bench to keep pace.

Although ahead, Coach Joe Arbitello knew his squad was on foreign soul and implored his team to stay focused. "This is where we have to dig in," he yelled."They were playing like the game was over," Arbitello would explain after the win

Molloy, down 6 to begin the second quarter, continued to scrap as Jason Clethoute (21 points) cut into the Royals lead. CK continued to exploit their size advantage and with the poise provided by point guard Andre Walker (13 points & 5 assists) blew open a 30-19 gap with 4:30 as Alkins and Walker scored in succession.

The Stanners tried to make a dent as Cethoute set the crowd off with two dunks but CK remained ahead by double digits as the half closed out.

Down 43-30 to start the third, Molloy needed to figure out how to negate CK's size. Dela Rosa picked up his 3rd foul early, offering a ray of hope, as Molloy continued to attack the paint but the Royals still gained ground. Even saddled with fouls the center help put the Royals up, 53-33 with 4:50 left in the third.

Davis nailed a critical three that released the mounting pressure on the Stanners. That release was brief as the Royals dominance in the paint pushed their lead back to 62-39 with 1:47 left in the quarter.

Christ the King took a 24 point lead into the fourth quarter but Dela Rosa would eventually foul out. With both Dela Rosa and Alkins unable to play, Coach Arbitello went to his bench again and received significant input from two of Christ the King's next generation players.

"Ya'Shawn Bright (6 points & 4 rebounds) and Tyrone Cohen (7 points & 4 rebounds) did an outstanding job today," said Arbitello who believed that the minutes the sophomores received were beneficial to their growth.

The Royals had already silenced the crowd in the third and led by twenty through most of the fourth. Molloy did end the game on a positive note as they fought to the bitter end, slicing the lead to 7 points with 11.1 seconds remaining in regulation but time was no longer their ally.

Although technically, the Stanners did cut a 24 point lead down to single digits in the fourth versus CK's younger players, Coach Arbitello said he was never worried in the final minutes. "I never felt that the game was in jeopardy."