Christ the King is the defending CHSAA Class AA intersectional and New York State Federation champions. But the Royals haven’t played the part through the first half of the season.
“I don’t think we’ve been defending our title the right way,” Christ the King point guard Corey Edwards said. “Everybody was coming at us and we were too laid back. That’s going to be the difference in the second half of the season.”
That started Tuesday night with a resounding 72-47 victory over upstart St. Francis Prep in a CHSAA Class AA league contest in Middle Village, Queens.
It’s not the lopsided score, which wasn’t really indicative of the game, that pleased Royals coach Joe Arbitello. It was the effort and intensity that’s been lacking for much of his team’s first 13 games of the season.
“I thought we played great, we played hard and that’s what I was looking for,” Arbitello said. “We were unselfish. I’ve been telling the guys since [a 72-59 loss to Gonzaga (D.C.) at the Cancer Research Classic in] West Virginia, if we play the way we’re supposed to for 32 minutes we’re going to be tough to beat.”
“This was a very important game,” Arbitello added. “I would have hung myself if we didn’t come out and play hard today.”
Junior star Omar Calhoun paced the Royals with 19 of his game-high 21 points in the first half and helped stake Christ the King (9-5, 5-1 Brooklyn/Queens) to a 39-28 halftime lead.
“When Omar hits shots, it opens up the game for everyone else,” Edwards said. “That’s when it’s hard to guard us.”
Led by Mike Murray (12 points), George Hatzioannides (11 points) and Joey Salerno (10 points), St. Francis Prep (12-7, 3-3) wouldn’t go away and cut its deficit to six on a layup by Andrew Winter in the third quarter.
But Khalid Straker, who struggled and scored just five points, took an ill-advised 3-pointer early in the shot clock on the Terriers’ next possession. The shot rimmed out and Edwards, who had 12 points, banged a 3-pointer. It sparked a 19-0 run for the Royals, which also received 10 points from sophomore Isaiah Lewis, to put the game out of reach.
“We’re so fragile. We’re not mentally tough enough,” St. Francis Prep coach Tim Leary said. “I don’t know if it’s a leadership thing, a toughness thing, but all year long it’s one bad shot or one bad pass and we go into a funk.”
The Royals spent much of the first half of the season in a funk of their own, but Arbitello thinks his team has turned a corner. He expects a similar effort in a showdown against St. Raymond at home Friday night.
“I think they’re starting to buy into what we’re saying,” Arbitello said. “Everybody thought it was so rosy last year because we had a state championship, but it wasn’t. It was bumpy up to this point, too. It took a little while for those guys to buy in also. We could miss 6,000 shots Friday night and lose, but I think our effort will be sustained throughout the next couple of games.”
Meanwhile, Murray believes the outcome of the return game at St. Francis Prep on Feb. 8 will be much closer.
“At home, I think it will be a different game,” the senior guard said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect today, but now we know what we have to deal with. I think it will be a lot closer of a game next time.”