Christ the King Takes On Crusaders
MIDDLE VILLAGE, NY - Never judge a book by its cover was never more true than on Wednesday during Christ the King's last game of 2015 against Archbishop Stepinac, a school whose CHSAA-league record is a very deceptive, 1-5. Fortunately, the Royals were well versed on the White Plains, NY squad, enough to pull off a 69-64 win.
"They're a really good team," Christ the King Head Coach Joe Arbitello admitted. The strategy was to limit Stepinac's high octane star player Jordan Tucker '17 (13 points). "I think very highly of him. We decided we weren't going to let him catch and let some of the other guys beat us."
That tactic was immediately put to the test as Tucker popped off 10 first quarter points while being defended well by Tyrone Cohen '16 (21 points & 7 rebounds). "It's great to coach seniors because if [Cohen's] a junior and Tucker hits two pro threes on him and then the pull up and then the jab and the step back, a junior after hearing the crowd might go in the tank and might cry," said Arbitello. Because the Holy Cross bound wing is a senior who's been there and done that, Arbitello said he believes that is what prevailed in the end.
One thing about Stepinac is they are a young team. Young but talented. Tucker's first quarter heroics along with offensive input from 6'5" Aundre Hyatt '18 (23 points) would put the Crusaders on top by three points heading into the second quarter. The second quarter would be different.
As the Royals doubled down on their plan to limit Tucker's offense, the junior showed another facet of his game which was the ability to find the open man. "It won't show up in the box score for him but he passed the ball, he got the ball to the open guys and the open guys knocked down shots and that's how they were able to get back in the game," said Coach Arbitello.
Hyatt and 5'9" Mikai Johnson '17 (16 points) got hot from the perimeter for Stepinac at the onset of the second quarter but Tucker was held to zero points. Point guard Jose Alvarado '17 (14 points & 8 assists) and Cohen made headway for Christ the King along with hustle plays from Yashawn Bright '16 (10 points & 11 rebounds). The Crusaders mounted a mini-comeback but an 18-5 Royals run set Stepinac back, 34-27 at the half.
The Crusaders were not done yet as Hyatt and Johnson lit up the sky with trey bombs. Back to back three-pointers by Johnson capped off a 9-2 run with his 13th point of the quarter that knotted the game at 36 with 6:29 left in the quarter. Christ the King would surge back in front by six but two more threes by Johnson gave Stepinac a one point lead as the final quarter got underway.
The fourth quarter was a good old fashioned shoot out as both teams could smell the finish line. The Royals got offense from Jared Rivers '17 (11 points & 4 rebounds) while Tucker briefly began find the bottom of the rim for Stepinac. While both teams fought hard, the Crusaders were begin to crack around the edges. Cohen took advantage down low while Alvarado began to thread the needle with pinpoint assists. A steal by Alvarado off Tucker followed by strong defensive stances by Tracey Cleckley '16 and back breaking buckets by Cohen would put Christ the King up by 7 points with 49.5 second left to play.
Hyatt drained a three-pointer with 22.8 seconds left in regulation but it would be too little too late. Coach Arbitello summed it up nicely. "I thought each [Royals player] won their individual match-up in the last four minutes. I thought that's what won us the game."
Archbishop Stepinac's overall record drops to 4-6 while Christ the King's improves to 6-1.