Christ the King Grinds It Out
Christ the King Royals Grind Out Win Over Archbishop Molloy Stanners
MIDDLE VILLAGE, NY - It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the Christ the King Royals. After recently losing to Cardozo back-to-back, the Royals faced a surging Archbishop Molloy Stanners in CHSAA League play. In a pivotal contest, CK pulled off a grind ‘em out, 49-45, victory.
“I thought our guys dug in and played outstanding defense,” said Royals Head Coach Joe Arbitello. “Offensively, we had to grind it out.”
Molloy came out fighting as Khalid Moore ‘17 (8 points) and Issac Grant ‘16 (15 points) scored inside but early foul trouble on the Stanners' star point guard Cole Anthony ‘19 (4 points) curtailed the team’s forward progress. The freshman’s absence allowed Christ the King to hang around as he was forced to ride the bench for most of the first half.
Molloy maintained a three point advantage as the second quarter began but Tracey Cleckley ‘16 (12 points & 4 rebounds) did a good job of keeping the Royals in the hunt. Baskets by Tyson Walker ‘18 (8 points) and Tyrone Cohen ‘16 (9 points & 5 rebounds) on Molloy’s 6’11” big man Moses Brown ‘18 (2 points) would shift the momentum.
Tracey Cleckley and Tyrone Cohen
Christ the King PG Jose Alvarado ’17 (9 points & 7 assists), who struggled offensively, managed to score and then score again to knot the game at 17 as he pilfered the Stanners’ inbound pass. A foul with 35.3 seconds put Molloy up 19-17 to start the third quarter.
“I expected the game to be exactly like it was,” said Arbitello. “I didn’t expect us to have 17 points. Coach Arbitello admitted that his team was fatigued, playing three successive games but they had to gut it out.
The Stanners increased their advantage piggybacking off the first half but Christ the King fought back with Cleckley and Jared Rivers '16 (6 points) stepping up their games. “Cleckley really made some big plays for us,” said Arbitello.
In a game of inches where neither team led by more than 4 points, the Royals eeked out a win playing good fundamental basketball.
Alvarado admitted that the win was essential to the team’s morale. “This win was really important with the loss to Dozo yesterday. To bounce back with a win against a great team makes our confidence go higher.”
