Bishop Loughlin’s Ayana Ratliff scored 19 points. (William Thomas)
Bishop Loughlin’s celebrates their victory. (William Thomas)
In Kasim Alston’s mind his goddaughter Tayshana (Chicken) Murphy has been with him and her former Loughlin teammates throughout their playoff run.
“They had a sixth player on the court and they didn’t even know it,” the Bishop Loughlin coach said.
He made sure Murphy, who was shot and killed Sept. 11, was ever present as the clock ticked down on the Lions’ CHSAA Class A girls basketball state title-winning victory.
Alston had thought about wearing her jersey under his suit for his team’s eventual 56-46 win over Mary Louis in the final at Christ the King Saturday. Instead with 1:30 left to play and his team comfortably ahead, he donned Murphy’s Loughlin jersey and coached the rest of the game with it on. The Brooklyn school makes its first trip to the state Federation tournament since it lost in the Class D final in 1998.
“I said, ‘If we start winning and I know it’s in the bag, Chicken’s here,’” Alston said.
Murphy would have been a senior at Murry Bergtraum this season and was considered one of the top players in the country in her class. She has been with Loughlin this season starting with a game against Bergtraum in her honor back in November. The team wears warm up shirts donning her name and number. Jasmine Alston said the coach has used the heart with which Murphy played as a motivation all year.
“It was sentimental for all of us,” said Jasmine Alston, the coach’s niece. “We know what he did it for. He reminds us every day. Every time we mess up or do something wrong he says, ‘You’re playing for Chicken.’”
The junior floor general felt senior guard Ayana Ratliff, who scored 30 points in a semifinals win over Holy Trinity, reminded her of the way Murphy played because of her hunger, swagger and will to win. Ratliff dropped in 19 points for the Lions (15-12). Imani Tate had 11 and Alston and Nyree Alston, the coach’s daughter both had 10. Reana Mohamed paced Mary Louis (13-17) with 16 points. Emily Arias connected on four 3-pointers for 12 points and Mei-Lyn Bautista added 11.
“My team, they are just confident in me,” Ratliff said. “They gave me the ball and I am able to do the best I can.”
The Lions beat the Hilltoppers for the third time in four tries this season, including for the Class A city title. TMLA was within 37-32 with 54 seconds left in the third thanks to a left-side jumper by Bautista. Mary Louis got the ball under its own basket, Loughlin stole the inbounds pass and Jasmine Alston buried a trey in front of the Loughlin bench at the buzzer to make it 40-32. The Lions, who turned TMLA misses and turnovers into transition points, went on a 13-4 run to go ahead 53-36 with 2:42 remaining in the game.
“They capitalized on our turnovers,” Mohamed said. “They really got more intense, in the last couple minutes of the second quarter. Their energy just carried over.”
Loughlin is hoping to take this momentum and carry it into the state Federation tournament in Albany. Murphy’s father Taylon hugged each of the Loughlin players after the game.
“We know that we didn’t come this far for nothing,” Jasmine Alston said. “We are going to make sure we end this right. End the season on a ‘W.’”