Wings Academy Wins Federation Class AA Championship

ALBANY, NY - For nearly three and a half quarters it looked as if Christ the King were on their way to a third straight NYS Class "AA" Federation Championship, but that's when trailing by 11 with 5:40 to go Wings Academy dug deep, and led by a strong veteran group that never quit, the PSAL Champions from the Bronx became the Federation Champions from the Bronx as Wings knocked off Christ the King in thrilling fashion, 79-73.

Everything was looking great for Christ the King in the early going as the three ball was the Royals best friend. Jared Rivers '16 knocked down three treys, while Jose Alvarado '17 knocked down two and with CK shooting over shot 50% from behind the arc in the opening half they were able to shoot from near anywhere with confidence, push the pace when needed, get out in transition and do nearly whatever they wanted offensively.

While Wings Academy did struggle to defend against CK in the first half, they themselves managed to stay within striking distance because of the deep ball, and it was an unlikely source in guard Efrain DeJesus '15 who was the one keeping them close as he knocked down three deep balls of his own in the opening sixteen minutes to keep them close.

Some might have been surprised at it being DeJesus who was keeping Wings in the game but the one person who was not surprised was head coach Billy Turnage who sees just what the guard can do day in and day out.

"That is what he does every day in practice, but for him to come up big like that in the biggest game of the year was tremendous," Turnage said.

Though DeJesus was shooting it well, and big man Jessie Govan '15 was able to do good things inside, Wings still trailed at the half 44-34 as defensively they struggled with players such as Rivers and Tyrone Cohen '16.

Many of the Wings players called this the worst defensive half of basketball them had played all season, and because there struggles defensively, Wings point guard Desure Buie '15 said Turnage railed into the team at the half, with the theme being the defense has to play better or this game was not going to end well for them.

"I think it was the most points they had scored in the first half all season so Coach wasn't happy but he was like keep your composure, the game isn't over." Buie explained.

Another big factor for the Wings defensive struggles was that defensive stopper Randy Corporan '15 was hampered with 2 early fouls putting him on the bench for much of the first half and Turnage even questioned his team wondering if Corporan was that big a factor in his teams ultimate success or failure.

That was going to be decided in the 2nd half, and to start the third quarter there was a definite difference as Christ the King misfired on their first 6 shots, but Wings wasn't connecting either as both teams were having trouble finding the ocean.

Wings had their chance to get back in it as CK only scored 11 points in the third, but with the Bronx school only scoring 12 of their own, they could only cut into the deficit by 1 as the Royals took what seemed to be a commanding 55-46 lead into the fourth.

The lead eventually grew to 62-51 with 5:40 to play after Rawle Alkins '16 hit a pair of FT's to give the Royals one of their biggest leads of the game, but during those free throws, it was Corporan who proved just how valuable he truly is for Wings when he decided it was time to lace into his teammates as he said it was now or never.

"I told my teammates we were giving them the game. I yelled at the top of my lungs we were giving them the game," Corporan said about his passionate plea to his team. "I said they aren't better than us, we are just giving it to them and they are playing harder than us and playing with more heart. That stuck with them because I disrespected them."

Buie and Govan both said that what Corporan did isn't out of the norm for him as they both said he is the heart and soul of the team, but regardless if that is a common occurrence, it really worked on this night.

With 5:40 left Wings was down by 11, but over the next 4:12 the PSAL power outscored Christ the King 20-3 as DeJesus and Buie each drained a pair of threes, and then it was Kevin Saylor '16 getting out in transition and finishing, and before anyone knew it, Wings was in front with 1:28 to play, 71-65, and the most shocked people in the gym at UAlbany seemed to be the players from Wings.

"I didn't see the run coming at all but we stuck the game plan and fought and things started to go our way," Corporan said as the team clearly responded to his challenge.

Turnage said that his one message to the team when they were down was to never give up as well because if there is one thing that he loves most about his team it's that they never give anything but 100%.

"They have been relentless all year and my thing to them was that if we are going to go down, go down fighting and don't beat ourselves," Turnage said.

It was truly a remarkable comeback that took Christ the King by shock as well.

Everything was looking great for the Royals and they seemed to be less than 6 minutes away from yet another Federation Title, but it was starting to slip away for CK and Alkins, who said that he was as surprised as anyone at the turn of events.

"It happened so fast I didn't even know what was going on," Alkins said. "Even when we fell behind though I didn't think we were going to lose. I thought we would come back and win."

That didn't happen though as Govan was able to finish a slam down along the baseline and then free throws late by Govan and Buie closed it out as Wings Academy were strong from the FT line late when they needed them most helping them win their first ever Federation Championship, outscoring their opponents 33-18 in the fourth quarter to stunningly defeat Christ the King, 79-73.

Govan, who struggled mightily in the semifinals on Friday night, scored 24 points to pace Wings in the victory, with Buie and DeJesus each coming up with 16 a piece in the win.

Alkins led Christ the King with 24 points, while Alvarado added 16, and Rivers chipped in with 15.

It was a tough defeat for Christ the King who had to feel as if they were near the finish line towards another title only to see it come up just short, and now the questions turn to whether Alkins, a junior, will be back next season.

Because he played 8 games as an 8th grader for a varsity team in Florida, Alkins eligibility is in doubt as the CHSAA says that each player is only allowed 4 years of H.S. basketball, and while Christ the King head coach Joe Arbitello says he definitely wants him back, Alkins after the game sounded like a player who knew he had just played his last game in a Royals uniform.

"I have worked so hard to get back here for our legacy and for Christ the King, and it just didn't go our way. I may not come back next year with my situation so I mean I guess this is it," Alkins said.

It would be a very disappointing ending to a fantastic high school career for Alkins but on Saturday Wings Academy just proved to be a little bit better, especially when it mattered the most down the stretch.

Having to come back late it almost didn't happen for Wings, but they surprised everyone, including themselves to make sure they all went out champions, because as Govan said, winning is all that matters.

"We didn't want to go out the last loser because that's all second place is so I felt we had to dig deep to pull it out and that's exactly what we did."