Loughlin Lions Claw Past Christ the King in Double OT

MIDDLE VILLAGE, NY- When you have a rivalry like the one Bishop Loughlin and Christ the King have, every game they play against one another is going to be good, but on Wednesday night when the two teams squared off in the Brooklyn/Queens Diocese Semifinals, they took it up to another level and the game became great.

Keith Williams '17 was fouled shooting a three as time expired at the end of regular with Loughlin down 70-67. He went to the charity stripe for 3 FT's to tie the game and send us OT, and with everything on the line he sank all three, showing to everyone in the packed gym just how clutch the Cincinnati bound guard is.

One overtime session proved to not be enough as the game was still tied after 4 extra minutes, meaning a second overtime would be needed to decide this one. With Jose Alvarado '17 and Tyson Walker '18 having fouled out though, there was just too much for the Royals to overcome as Williams would pull the Lions to the finish line, advancing them to Friday's Brooklyn/Queens Diocese Championship Game by defeating Christ the King, 98-90.

It was a solid back and forth game through most of regulation, with Bishop Loughlin leading for most of the first 3 quarters, but Phillps Joseph '19 was able to knock down some huge perimeter shots in the 4th to give Christ the King the lead, and with Alvarado doing a great job at the FT line to keep the Royals in front, it looked like the Lions were going to lose a close one to their main rivals.

With 18.8 seconds to go in the 4th quarter, Christ the King held a 69-65 lead and while many may have figured the Royals were going to pull it out, Markquis Nowell '18 said that no one on the Bishop Loughlin side of things felt they were out of it.

"We were confident the whole game no matter what, even when we were down by 4 late with a few seconds to go, we still believed we could do it," Nowell stated.

A putback off an offense rebound by Tyrese Gaffney '17 got the Lions back within 69-67 and with 7.9 seconds left, Loughlin fouled Alvarado, the Royals best FT shooter, sending him to the line for 2 FT's.

He confidently made their first, but missed the second off the left side of the iron. Bishop Loughlin attempted to push the ball up the court, down by 3 and needed a long ball to tie, but Christ the King fouled with 3.0 to play. It was a wise move, but it was just the Royals 5th team foul of the second half, so the Lions would get the chance to inbound the ball from midcourt.

Nowell inbounded the ball to Williams who took two dribbles and attempted to put up a shot at the buzzer, but he was fouled by Alvarado, sending the senior to the FT line for the 3 biggest FT's of his life.

Before he went to the line, Williams went over to Bishop Loughlin head coach Ed Gonzalez and they had a talk for a couple of seconds, with Gonzalez saying that he made sure Williams knew how big these shots were to him, and the team.

"I looked at Keith and I said we have been down this road before, you have been here for 4 years, do not let me down," Gonzalez said about their conversation. "He said coach don't worry about it, I got you we are going to get this.

It was still as nerve wracking as humanly possible though. The first two ended up being nothing but net, but it was the 3rd one where Williams admitted that he really started to feel it and hear the loudness of the noise inside of Christ the King's gymnasium.

"That last one, I'm not lying, the gym just got louder and louder and I was like Keith you cannot miss, Keith you cannot miss," Williams explained. "I released it and it touched the rim first, and when it dropped it was a huge weight off of my shoulders."

All three went in sending the game into overtime, and not only that, but the foul that Alvarado committed at the buzzer was his 5th, sending him to the bench for OT, meaning that Christ the King would have to play the extra session without their star floor general and leader.

The fact that Alvarado was out did make Nowell admit that they felt like things would be at the very least easier for them, feeling that with such a potent offensive threat on the bench, it made the Lions chances to win a little better.

"Jose and Tyson are like 50% of their offense, so when Jose fouls out its just Tyson which leaves just 25% of their offense so we felt that was good for us," Nowell admitted.

That didn't exactly prove to be the case though as Christ the King began getting solid performances off the bench from the likes of Joseph, Joshua Hodge '18, and Jonathan Lamartine '18, demonstrating that the Royals are deeper than anyone imagined.

They were able to hang in the game, but once again in the clutch moment with 9.1 seconds to go in overtime, Williams would connect on a pair of FT's to help Loughlin go up 79-77. It would be too much to overcome many had to feel for Christ the King, especially without Alvarado on the floor to make the play happen, but after some good ball movement, Jaylen Davis '19 cut along the baseline and found a wide-open Kofi Cockburn '19 down low for the two-handed slam at the buzzer, tying the game at 79 and sending the game into overtime number two.

It was an incredibly designed play that wasn't actually supposed to play out that way according to Royals head coach Joe Arbitello who said that it was really drawn up to get Christ the King a look from behind the arc for the win.

"We were trying to spread the court and let Tyson get in there but they doubled him, and then Jaylen came," Arbitello explained. "It was actually meant to be a three to win the game but we wound up having Kofi wide open under the basket and I had told them if you have the two, take it."

Cockburn more than took it, he threw it down with ferocious authority to give us more extra basketball. The big issue for Christ the King though heading into the 2nd OT was that they already had Alvarado on the bench, and Walker was saddled with 4 fouls as well. Less than a minute into overtime number two, Walker would pick up his 5th foul, sending him to the bench as well, which severely hampered the Royals chances even more.

While they could've rolled over and folded at that point, Christ the King showed fight and pride as they continued to try and get the win, but with Williams connecting on a lefty runner, and then Nowell hitting on a corner three, the Royals just finally were outmanned.

Hodge kept his sharpshooting ways going with his third three of the game with 2:42 to go in the 2nd OT, but Nowell was connecting on every one of his FT's down the stretch, and the threes finally stopped going for Christ the King. The seconds began to tick away, and the Lions could finally sense it and when the clock hit all zeroes after two overtimes, Bishop Loughlin could finally exhale as they were able to eventually close it out to take a hard fought, and well played, 98-90 victory.

It was an MVP type of performance from the CHSAA's MVP this season as Williams had a game high 37 points for Bishop Loughlin in the win, while his backcourt mate in Nowell added 24 points and 17 assists in an effort for the ages to help the Lions to Friday's B/Q Championship Game.

You could easily see the pride on Gonzalez's face after the victory, knowing how much he got from each and every one of his Lion players, and the fact that they never allowed themselves to quit late in that 4th quarter when they were down, he felt spoke volumes of his group this season.

"The kids never quit. They played their hearts out from start to finish. Down by 4 or 5 late in the 4th you think they would fold but they just didn't now, they continued to play and refused to lose," Gonzalez said with a smile after the victory.

Christ the King on the other end were led by Alvarado who had 20 points, while Cockburn and Walker each added 18 points apiece in the loss. It may have been in defeat, but you could still sense the pride that Arbitello had for his team as well. They were down Alvarado for both overtimes, and Walker for most of one, but his squad also never quit, something he admitted he was very proud of.

"I thought our guys played really good and tough today," Arbitello said. "They were mentally tough, and physically tough the whole game. You are going to tell me we don't have Jose, and we don't have Tyson, and to keep the game that close and step up and make shots against a really good Bishop Loughlin team, you got to be happy."

Both teams left everything on the court but by the smallest of all margins it was Bishop Loughlin who will now be advancing to Friday's Brooklyn/Queens Diocese Championship Game, as the Lions will look to repeat as champions once again this year.

That was the furthest thing from Williams' mind though after the game. He was thrilled for the victory, but he also admitted exhaustion after having gone through one of the toughest games he said he had ever played. He came to play today in the biggest way possible and will now, at least for a few hours, enjoy his break as he knows there will be even bigger moments soon to come.

"I'm feeling relief right now, like we are finally done now because it felt like it just kept going and going. It's like what 10:30 now? It's late and I'm tired. I'm just glad it's done and I can go home and rest because we got another big one on Friday."

On Friday, Bishop Loughlin will take on Archbishop Molloy for the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Diocese Title as the Stanners earlier on Wednesday defeated Holy Cross 80-61. Cole Anthony '19 led the way for the Stanners with 23 points, while Moses Brown '18 proved to be a major force inside in scoring 21 points as Molloy rallied from an early 9-point deficit to take control early in the 3rd quarter and never look back to advance.