Royals swallow All Hallows in season opener
BRONX, NY – All Hallows cannot be overlooked this season but on Monday they hosted perineal powerhouse Christ the King at the Gauchos Gym and got a reality check. After a competitive three quarters by the Gaels, the Royals led by point guard Jose Alvarado ‘17 would all but consume All Hallows, 69-49.
Alvarado paced the team with a game high 21 points and three assists. “I was just trying to play my role,” he said. “My team is good.”
The Georgia Tech bound senior admitted that this being the team’s first game of the season, the Royals were a bit nervous in the first half. “Everything clicked in the second half,” Alvarado added.
All Hallows, who recently beat Xaverian and gave #1 ranked Bishop Loughlin all they could handle in an 8-point loss, matched Christ the King’s intensity from the opening bell as 5’11” Carnell White ‘17 and 6’4” Kieffer Punter ‘17 scored from the perimeter with 6’5” Alejandro Castellanos ‘18 battling on the boards. Midway through the opening quarter, a bucket by Punter gave Gaels their first lead but 6’7” Phillips Joseph ‘19 countered for Christ the King with a trey to regain the lead. Punter, however, ended the quarter with back to backs, knotting the contest at 12 to end the warm-up quarter.
Alvarado pumped up the volume in to start the second quarter and the Royals followed suit. With 6’10” big man Kofi Cockburn ‘19 with a thunderous dunk and 6’6” Jared Harrison-Hunte ‘19 attacking the gaps, the Royals seemed to be peculating. A 10 – 3 Christ the King run put the Middle Village, NY school up by seven points with 5:40 left in the half.
All Hallows was not done yet. Castellanos set the tone as he fought tooth and nail against Cockburn in the paint. 6’3” Cameron Otiti ‘18 along with a steal Punter pulled the Gaels closer and closer to CTK until the game was tied at 24 with 2:55 left in the opening half. White drained a trey, capping off a 12 – 5 run that put All Hallows back on top once again but Alvarado and Joseph responded late sending the Royals into the locker room with a slim 29-28 advantage.
Unbeknownst to many, Alvarado had not practiced or scrimmaged with the Royals recently due to the illness and the subsequent passing of his grandmother and was trying to reacclimate to the team. Royals head coach Joe Arbitello said, “I told Jose, I felt he was trying to fit in with [the team] instead of having [the team] fit in with Jose.”
That all changed in the second half when Christ the King extended its lead to 7 points early in the third as 5’11” Tyson Walker ‘18 joined in offensively. Arbitello also featured a two to three guard line-up with Alvarado often playing off the ball. All Hallows didn’t help matters by starting to miss bunnies. The Royals lead grew to nine points before the Gaels regained its composure and fought back. 5’9” Joel Simpson ‘19 along with White and Punter reduced All Hallows deficit to a mere two points but a trifecta from Joseph and a transition basket by Walker pushed Christ the King back up by eight points to begin the final quarter.
The All Hallows' faithful thought they could smell an upset as their team hung tight with the Royals for three quarters but what they actually were smelling was burnt rubber as Christ the King was about to take off. With superb guard play between Alvarado, Walker and 5’7” Joshua Hodge ‘18 on defense, the Royals blew the game wide open with a 15 – 2 run. When the smoke cleared with 3:10 left in regulation, the Gaels were behind by 20 and that's all she wrote said the singing fat ladies.
In addition to Alvarado's impressive performance, Christ the King received 16 points and 5 assists from Walker, 12 points and 14 rebounds from Cockburn and 10 points and 3 blocks from Joseph. Punter paced the Gaels with 14 points along with 9 points from White.
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