Hayes's aerial assault downs Christ the King
BRONX, NY- As the defending CHSAA Intersectional Champions the Cardinal Hayes Cardinals unfurled their title winning banner on Friday before their season opener against Christ the King.
They were just in the mood celebrate their success from last season though, the Cardinals were looking to make an early season statement against a talented and big Royals team.
If a statement was what Cardinal Hayes wanted to make then consider Friday's game a success as the Cardinals connected on 10 first half threes to open a commanding halftime lead, a lead they would never relinquish as Tyrese Williams '18 and Jontai Williams '18 paced the way from deep to shoot Hayes to an 84-64 victory.
Against a team in Christ the King that features a pair of 6'10" bigs down low, Cardinal Hayes head coach Joe Lods knew that matching up with the Royals would be tough as the Cardinals a team that doesn't have that sort of size inside, but he believed coming in that Christ the King would have the same problem against the Hayes perimeter threats.
"I thought it would be tough for them to match up with us but conversely I felt it would be tough for us to match up with them," Lods admitted. "I knew we had to get the game up and down the best I felt we could because I knew we could shoot the ball against their zone."
Lods was confident Christ the King with the size they have inside would start in a zone, and he was proven right. It was a move though that quickly Cardinal Hayes took advantage of.
The two Williams' were burning shot after shot in the zone, with Tyrese doing the early damage scoring 14 points in the opening quarter, including knocking down 4 threes to see Hayes get off to a tremendous start. The tempo was fast, and the Cardinals got good looks each time down the floor, making them often to take a 31-17 lead after one quarter.
It was Jontai's tune in the second as he connected on three treys in the stanza, help in push the lead to as big as 22 in the quarter, with the uncommitted senior guard saying that Tyrese's play in the first propelled him to taking over in the second.
"We like to go at it as much as we can and Tyrese started making all those threes, so I just fed off that energy and got going myself," Williams stated.
As a team in the first half Cardinal Hayes made 10 three's, forcing Christ the King out of the zone as the Royals went into halftime looking to reevaluate things as the Cardinals led 49-35 at the break.
Even with Christ the King switching to a man defense, which did take good perimeter looks away from Cardinal Hayes, the Cardinals still found ways to score. Jaylen Murray '20 started to get going with runners in the lane, and while he struggled with cramps for most of the game, Joe Toussaint '19 did a little bit of everything, attacking the lanes and finding open teammates for buckets at the rim.
Kofi Cockburn '19 and Moussa Cisse '21 both provided a lot of size for Christ the King, and while they were more effective in scoring and getting touches at the rim in the 3rd quarter, the Royals couldn't chip away at the lead.
Still up by 17 heading into the 4th quarter, Cardinal Hayes kept it going with Jontai knocking down his 4th three ball of the game to open the final quarter, punctuating the type of game it was for the Cardinals.
Quaran McPherson '20 was strong for Christ the King in the second half as he was more aggressive in looking to finish at the Cardinal Hayes defense, but as Lods would say after the game, if the Cardinals shoot like they did on Friday they will be very tough to beat for anyone. Hayes got great efforts from everyone and showed everyone in attendance that they will be a force to be reckoned with this season as they cruised down the stretch to take down Christ the King in the season opener for both, 84-64.
Both Williams' had games to remember with Quinnipiac commit Tyrese scoring 23 points, while Jontai added 20. It wasn't just those two though as Terry Dawkins '18 was in double digits as well with 11 points, while Toussaint had 9 points and a slew of other game changing plays.
With the first game of the season being against Christ the King, and the game where they unveiled last season's championship banner, this was as perfect a day for both Williams, though Tyrese said that they had the perfect game plan, and executed as well as he could've hoped.
"It was amazing honestly," Williams said. "Our coaching staff told us to fire away because that's what we did last year to win the championship and we shoot really well here at home, it's really just us being who we are, and it worked today."
For Christ the King in the defeat it was McPherson who had a team high 18 points to lead the Royals, with Cisse adding 12 points in what promises be a special high school career.
Even as the defending CHSAA champions many on Cardinal Hayes felt that they were considered the underdog to Christ the King coming into Friday, which in turn motivated Williams to prove to those who doubt them that they are once again a team to watch. He doesn't mind being slept on by observers though as he, and everyone associated with the Cardinals, know that this team once again has championship potential
"We are still a sleeper and we will continue to be the sleeper but trust me we will earn our respect because that's what we do."
