Less than 24 hours after an overtime loss to St. Raymond and with another important league game against Archbishop Molloy on the horizon, Christ the King coach Joe Arbitello delivered an edict to Chris Ortiz at practice Saturday.
“Coach put it on my back that I’m supposed to be the difference-maker in games like this since I have the size advantage,” the 6-foot-8 center said. “I did what coach said and got more aggressive.”
The unsigned senior imposed his will, especially on the defensive end, helping lead the Royals to a 58-47 victory against the Stanners in a CHSAA Class AA Brooklyn/Queens league game Sunday afternoon in Middle Village, Queens.
Ortiz had a team-high 19 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. He had six points and a huge block on a George Davis layup attempt in a critical 15-2 fourth-quarter run that helped Christ the King (10-6, 6-2 Brooklyn/Queens) finally put away pesky Molloy (12-7, 3-5).
“I thought he was really active in the fourth quarter which helped us a lot,” Arbitello said of Ortiz. “I thought he did a really good job on both ends. He was patient. They were leaving him wide open, but he wouldn’t shoot right away. He wanted us to run the offense, which I thought was a big key today, that we started sharing the ball more in the second half.”
For three quarters, the difference-maker was Chris Dorgler, Molloy’s lanky 6-foot-3 dynamo who scored a game-high 24 points. But the Saint Rose-bound swingman, who was unstoppable through three quarters, was held to just a pair of free throws in the fourth.
Arbitello said the key was switching the combination of Terrel Hunt and Jordan Fuchs, who were benched for the first half after showing up late to practice Saturday, on Dorgler. He was able to shoot over the shorter T.J. Curry in the first half, but not Hunt or Fuchs.
“I thought they’d give us a better defensive effort and helped us on the boards,” Arbitello said. “That’s exactly happened. They did a really good job on the kid Dorgler, who is really good.”
Dorgler shot 9-of-22 from the field and the rest of his teammates went ice cold, forcing bad shots which allowed the Royals to get out into transition. Battling an illness, Chris Garcia was 3-of-11 for eight points, while Mark Parisi was non-existent after back-to-back solid performances.
“We took some bad shots and they got on the break and that was the difference,” said legendary Molloy coach Jack Curran. “We got down four or six and we took worse shots. When they get down, they have to be more patient.”
Jon Severe provided a spark for Christ the King with 12 points off the bench, with Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon sitting courtside, Omar Calhoun had 11 points and Corey Edwards, playing in front of future George Mason coaches Jim Larranaga and assistant Mike Huger, had eight assists.
“I could score, but I try not to rush everything. I’m just trying to play ball,” Severe said. “Defense is the key to everything.”
On Sunday, it was the key in an important bounce-back victory for the Royals, who next host Bishop Loughlin Friday night.
Archbishop Molloy, which tied the game at 43 on a Garcia 3-pointer 12 seconds into the fourth quarter, heads to Fort Greene to take on the Lions Tuesday afternoon.
“We always play them good, but it’s tough because we kind of fell apart at the end,” Dorgler said. “We took some bad shots and they went on a run. If we could keep up how we played them for three quarters in the fourth quarter, we should be able to take them down if we see them again in the playoffs.”