Royals Win 59-56 in Overtime
The Christ the King Royals fell short in the Brooklyn/Queens semis but they are considered one of the favorites to win the CHSAA intersectional championship game. They came in as the No. 3 seed against the No. 6 seed St. Peter’s who beat Bishop Loughlin HS to continue their title hopes.
Eagles got a triple from 6’6” F Qadir Martin(St. Peter’s HS, NY ’24 ) to start. The Royals finished a layup, 5’11” PG Jalen Munson (St. Peter’s HS, NY ’24) buried a three as the St. Peter’s crowd got loud. Royals converted and1, 6’8” SF Qinfang Pang (Christ the King HS, NY ‘24 )scored after an STP miss but CTK gave up a bank three just as the shot clock sounded for the Eagles. Martin’s block led to a layup, the Royals hit a three, and Martin split a pair of three throws. Royals 6’3” PG Markell Alston (Christ the King HS, NY ‘25) made his presence felt with a three pointer to end the first quarter.
St. Peter’s played well but still trailed by one. Munson got them a lead with a layup and then following it up with a tough inside finish. Martin blocked the Royals leading to another layup. CTK turned it over, the Eagles missed, and Martin got another block, then drew a foul. He missed them both, and the Eagles scored after a miss. CTK turned it over and Munson knocked down an open three. The senior scored again after the Royals missed. Alston got by his man for two, but the Eagles couldn’t convert a layup. Alston made them pay with an and1.
The Eagles responded with a jumper, and CTK missed. St. Peter’s hit a triple, the Royals scored. Martin got an inside hoop, but CTK answered. St. Peter’s ran a beautiful play for Martin, who scored again in the paint, giving his team a 34-22 lead at halftime.
If you watch the CHSAA you know Head Coach Joe Arbitello and his teams never gives up or goes down easy. He drew up a quick score for two, Martin finished over the defense, and Alston scored with Martin getting another big block. The Royals maintained possession, got a free throw, the Eagles missed and Christ the King scored. STP turned it over and Pang got a bucket.
St. Peter’s ran a nice set but missed, Martin got another block, and the Eagles hit two free throws. CTK missed a three but drew a foul. They made 2/3, turned STP over, and got a quick score to force the Eagles to call a timeout. STP only led by three after the Royals run but got two free throws from Munson with a bucket after a big stop. Christ the King scored on a layup, Peter’s missed and the Royals hit a really tough fade away at the buzzer.
Christ the King trailed 42-39, got fouled shooting a three, made 2/3, and Martin split a pair at the line. Alston hit a smooth jumper and the Eagles responded with a massive three. Pang scored inside, the Eagles split the line, Pang added a free throw, and STP missed. Martin blocked the Royals then scored on the other end. Alston blew by his defender for a layup. The Royals scored an easy layup after the Eagles turned it over in their back court. Peters missed, Martin blocked the Royals, CTK got a stop but couldn’t score. Martin went 1/2 from the line, Royals were called for offensive foul, Munson hit a free throw but CTK was fouled. They went 1/2 from the line, St. Peter’s tried to score at the buzzer but couldn’t as we headed to overtime.
The Eagles started overtime going 1/2 from the line. The Royals made both, but St. Peter’s hit a massive three as they took a two point lead. Pang scored after CTK’s timeout, the Eagles missed. Alston got loose for two, and Munson went 1/2 after getting fouled. The The Royals drew up a set for Pang, who scored inside to give them a 59-56 lead with one minute left. Munson missed, CTK killed the clock, missed, and grabbed an offensive rebound. This killed more of the clock, then a timeout was called when they got trapped. They got the ball to Pang in the paint, who we thought would get fouled. He shot, the ball got loose, and after a scrum, it was declared a jump ball. CTK retained possession, the inbound got loose, and the time ran out for St. Peter’s.
The Eagles were devastated, including the coaching staff, but they gave it all they could. Alston was terrific, leading the Royals with 16 points, he always seems to make the right play. Pang had 11 points, including some huge baskets down the stretch, and it looked like he wasn’t 100%, but he fought through it.
Martin was sensational for the Eagles, with 14-points, 8 rebounds, and a ridiculous 7 blocks. Munson had 16-points and should absolutely be getting recruited by some programs in the area. The Royals will continue their championship hopes as they take on Stepinac HS at Fordham on March 3rd.