With junior Corey Edwards sidelined with a badly bruised left knee, Christ the King coach Joe Arbitello was looking for someone else on his deep roster to run the point for Friday night’s season opener at All Hallows.
So he gave the keys to T.J. Curry.
“He’s not naturally a point guard, but he does a great job,” Arbitello said “I saw it at practice. He’s smart enough to run the point…We don’t lose much with TJ at the point, with the exception of the normal flow of the game.”
Curry was informed three days ago, giving him enough time to mentally prepare.
“I was just thinking nonstop, getting the jitters out right then and there,” Curry said. “I came out today and I felt good. I felt like I was ready.”
He showed that in All Hallows’ cramped gym, helping lead Christ the King to a 49-27 victory against the Gaels in The Bronx.
Curry had nine points, four assists and four rebounds. He probably could have had a double-double if the Royals, No. 2 in the Post New York City boys basketball rankings, finished half of their open shots.
But what the Royals lacked on the offensive end, they made up for defensively and on the glass.
“I thought we did a great job [rebounding], I thought we did a great job running our offense, I thought we did a great job defensively,” Arbitello said. “We didn’t make shots. It was tough to watch at times, honestly.”
Highly-touted sophomore Omar Calhoun also made his varsity debut Friday night, displaying his versatility with a team-high 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
“I was pretty anxious,” Calhoun said. “I hear all the other stuff going on, Rice and all the other teams playing and I just want to go out and show how good we were.”
Arbitello said he challenged the 6-foot-4 guard to battle on the glass and Calhoun, as well as the rest of his teammates, responded.
“He did a great job for us,” Arbitello said. “Omar’s one of the smartest kids I’ve ever coached. If you tell him something he’s going to try his best to do it.”
Kareem Thomas and Maurice Barrow scored nine points apiece, Roland Brown had eight points and seven rebounds and Dominykas Milka grabbed 11 rebounds for Christ the King, which led from midway through the first quarter until the final buzzer.
Omar Kellman was a one-man show for All Hallows (2-3), with a game-high 17 points. But without Manhattan-bound senior guard Michael Alvarado, who remained home with a stomach virus, the Gaels offense stalled like the traffic on the nearby Grand Concourse during rush hour.
While All Hallows got as close as 29-25 on a 3-pointer by Raymond DelaCruz with 3:53 left in the third quarter, Curry went on a personal 7-0 run and the Royals led 39-27 heading into the fourth, where the Gaels went scoreless.
“My general observation is simply this: Without him we lose a lot,” All Hallows coach John Carey said. “The other thing is kids today don’t want to run offense, they just want to play.”
Christ the King might be the last team in New York City to step on the court, but the Royals play their second game in less than 24 hours. CK meets Cardozo at Fordham University Saturday at 3 p.m., a start time pushed up two hours because of the impending storm.
“We’re just ready to play,” Calhoun said. “We had this game just to wet our feet and now it’s time for us to step up and go hard.”