Cold, Cole World For L.I. Lutheran

MIDDLE VILLAGE, NY - On Friday, Long Island Lutheran came back to the gym of the Christ the King Royals where they had recently destroyed Cardozo HS by almost 40 points during the CTK Apparel Challenge. This time actually playing against Christ the King, a Royals fan yelled out a reminder to the Crusaders saying, “This ain’t Cardozo!” The statement was prophetic as when it was all said and done, LuHi found themselves on the short end of the stick, losing 71-61 to a well-oiled Royals squad.

CTK's domination occurred on the boards and the primary dominator was Robert Morris-bound power forward David Cole ‘16. The 6’6”/220 lb big man crushed LuHi in the paint on both ends of the court, scoring 21 points to go along with double-digit rebounds. “My goal today was to get a double-double,” said the senior. “My college came [to the game] and said they wanted to see a double-double and I said no problem.”

The Crusaders on paper appeared to be the superior team in the front court with 6’8” Donatas Kupsas ‘18, 6’6” Chris Coalmon ‘17, 6’4” Charles Manning ‘16 and or 6’8” Rojaye Campbell ‘16 in the paint but Royals Head Coach Joe Arbitello told NYCHoops.net that he saw things differently. “I didn’t think they were physically bigger than us. I thought they might be taller than us.” The goal according the Coach Arbitello was to actually throw the ball inside and mix things up.

Christ the King led for the entire game except for early in the first quarter when Royals starters yielded to 2016 bench players for ½ a quarter in honor of senior night. To further stack the deck, it was also rumored that LuHi’s go-to-guy Devonte Green ‘16 might not play due to a bout of bronchitis but the Indiana-bound guard was front and center at the tip off. Green seemed potent as ever at first, scoring 20 of the Crusader's 26 first-half points.

Green’s offensive onslaught would not be enough as the remaining Crusaders could not seem to find the bottom of the rim. With Cole and the help of Yashawn Bright '16 and Tyrone Cohen '16 cleaning the boards, Royals point guard Jose Alvarado ‘17 kept LuHi defenders guessing, sending the Catholic school into its locker room at the half ahead by 5 points.

“When Alvarado’s playing that good, we’re hard to beat,” said Coach Arbitello. “He had the ball. He knew where it was supposed to go. He’s makin’ shots [and] he’s makin’ passes.” In addition to those stat lines, Arbitello added that the junior point guard is an underrated defender. “He’s as tough as they come. He gets his hands on a lot of basketballs.”

In the third quarter, the Crusaders did manage to heat up but with a porous defense were not able to keep stride with CTK. The Royals halftime lead doubled by the end of the third quarter as Jared Rivers ‘16 and Tracey Cleckley ‘16 began serving up points.

Frustration set in as LuHi had no answer for being beaten at the own game of superiority the paint. With 2:32 left to play, exasperation reached a boiling point when Kupsas committed his 5th foul on Cole and also picked up a technical foul as he exited the court. Cole calmly went to the charity strip and knocked down all his free-throws. The Royals now had a 16 point lead, the largest of the game, along with possession of the ball due to the tech. Last minute heroics by LuHi point guard Brandon Jacobs ‘17 made the final score more respectable but it was clearly a decisive win for the Royals.

“For whatever reason we came out flat,” said Lutheran Head Coach John Buck. "Our defense was not aggressive and offensively, [we] never got our fast break going. Give Christ the King credit. They played really well and out worked us.”

Arbitello said that an additional incentive for his team was watching the game where LuHi demolished Cardozo a week earlier. “That’s a little extra motivation. [Knowing] if you don’t come out ready to play you’re gonna get beat by 40 on your own court and that [would be] a little embarrassing.”

Needless to say, Christ the King was far from embarrassed when the dust settled. While Cole led the way for the Royals, Alvarado netted 18 points with Rivers and Cleckley adding 9 points apiece. Although Green led LuHi with 25 points, he was reduced to only 5 points in the second half. Jacobs was the only other Crusader in double digits with 12 points (four three-pointers) all coming in the second half.

Christ the King improves to 15-7 while Long Island Lutheran falls to 19-3.