Royals Squeeze Terriers ‘til they go pop
MIDDLE VILLAGE, NY – No matter what anyone tells you, in basketball, size and height matters. When you’re outmatched in four of the five positions on the court, it matters even more. Such was the case on Tuesday evening at Christ the King Regional HS. The C.T.K. Royals played ping pong with St. Francis Prep for two quarters then turned the screws on the Terriers until they popped in the third quarter. The Royals then pulled ahead and coasted to a 54 – 43 victory.
After soundly beating NYCHoops.net #6 ranked Cardinal Hayes by 30 points on Sunday, Royals head coach Joe Arbitello was happy with the win over St. Francis Prep but not satisfied with his team’s performance. “Offensively, I think we’re still unsure with the basketball,” said Arbitello. “I think we’re passing well but we’ve got to get better offensively.”
Those concerns bore fruit in the first half as Josh Pascarelli ‘23 led the Terriers to a four-point lead in the opening quarter and. That deficit was cut in half as Devin Vanterpool ‘23 and Markell Alston ‘25 effectively countered St. Francis Prep.
Still down 23 – 21 to begin the third quarter, Christ the King tightened its defensive screws on the Terriers, limiting them to only two-points in the third quarter. Dwayne Pierce was an offensive juggernaut for the Royals throughout the game. Alston provided perimeter scoring while Vanterpool and Qin Pang ‘24 added midrange and scoring in the paint. Eventually, a 17 – 2 run resulted as defensive pressure busts the Terriers pipes. Suddenly, Christ the King was ahead by 13 at the end of three quarters of play.
Pascarelli tried his best to dig St. Francis Prep out of the hole in the final quarter, Christ the King’s defense never let them back into the hunt. While Coach Arbitello was critical of the Royals offense, he acknowledged that their defense won the day. “Defensively, when you hold a team to 43 points and hold Cardinal Hayes to 48 points, you have to be happy with that.”
Alston and Pierce led Christ the King with 12 points apiece with Vanterpool and Pang adding 10 points and 8 points respectively. Pascarelli laced St. Francis Prep with a game high 19 points. No other Terriers scored double-digits.
