Naz Gets Pierce’d by C.T.K.

MIDDLE VILLAGE, NY – The Catholic League got underway in earnest on Friday evening as Nazareth travelled from Brooklyn to Queens to face off against Christ the King Regional H.S. The Kingsmen repped Kings County, setting the tone before the tip-off, sporting warm-ups with the word “Toughness” embroidered in. While physicality remained throughout the contest, slightly favoring Naz in the first half, endurance would be the Royals superpower in the end as Dwayne Pierce led them to a 57 – 47 victory.

The Kingsmen were in attack mode but purposely slowed the pace which stifled Christ the King early on. Perimeter shots by Tristan Rogers ’24 put Naz out from early and the Brooklyn squad held on to a 25 – 20 lead at the half.

Sequential dunks by Pierce and Qin Pang quickly erased Naz’s lead. With 2:46 left in the third quarter, the game was tied at 31 apiece. “Be physical!” yelled Kingsmen head coach Gary Ervin at his team. “We knew this was going to be a dogfight.”

Unfortunately, Coach Ervin’s words alone could not slow down the snowball effect that was CTK’s growing momentum. Ahead 5 points going into the final quarter, the Royals levelled up and unleashed Pierce who put the final nail in Naz’s coffin.

Pierce was the high scorer for Christ the King with 29 points. Rogers paced Nazareth with 19 points.