CTK vs. Rice: The Greatest High School Spectacle Ever!
By Aron Phillips
While everyone had football on the brain for yesterday’s Super Bowl Sunday, the day also featured one of NYC’s most touted high school hoops rivalries between Christ the King (Queens, N.Y.) and Rice (Harlem, N.Y.). In front of a packed house on the Middle Village campus, I made the trek from the 4 to the J to the M for what could have been the greatest high school basketball spectacle ever.
As soon as you got there, you might have thought you were at Madison Square Garden, with Mike “Wally” Walczewski – the voice of the Knicks for over 20 seasons – in the house to call the game alongside NBA Hall of Famer Walt “Clyde” Frazier. And as if that wasn’t great enough, Louisville’s Rick Pitino, Florida’s Billy Donovan and David Lee were on hand to catch the action as well, and Funkmaster Flex was on the 1’s and 2’s during pre-game warmups.
Fans from both sides were decked out in rivalry t-shirts in their school’s colors, with matching foam fingers on either hand. The crowd eru
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A Super Sunday
The Christ the King Mens Basketball program would like to say Thank You to all of the people that allowed a great day of games on Super Bowl Sunday to take place.
Special Thanks go out to the performers Fabolous, Funkmaster Flex, Knicks City Dancers, and Walt Frazier. In addition, the Nike staff and their employees deserve a lot of credit for putting on a very memorable show that will not be forgotten.
We would also like to thank all of the CK staff who participated in the event preparations.
Last, but certainly not least, Thank You to all of the fans that came out and showed support for your CK Royals!
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Fabolous Atmosphere at CK
The Super Bowl's got nothing on Christ the King.
Father John Savage Gymnasium in Middle Village was the site of the high school basketball event of the year, a Nike-sponsored CHSAA showdown between Christ the King and Rice.
The annual game is always one of the most anticipated of the year, but Sunday’s clash was taken to an even larger level. A few hours before the scheduled tip between arguably the best two teams in the city, the wooden bleachers on both sides of the court were packed to capacity with 1,800 fans, many of whom were CK students.
The parking lots were full almost two hours before the game and the gate on top of the hill was closed before the tip. Some unlucky late-arriving fans were turned away at the door.
For some, like assistant coach Nick Sanchez, it reminded them of the good old days of the 1980s when the Middle Village gym was regularly packed every Friday night, especially when Kenny Anderson and Archbishop Molloy arrived.
As for Christ the King head coach Joe Arbitello, it was a first.
“I’ve never seen it like this before in my life,” he said. “It was amazing, absolutely amazing.”
Nike, which has contracts with both programs, pumped thousands of dollars into the game, bringing in special lighting and smoke machines, hiring Knicks PA announcer Mike Walczewski and Clyde Frazier to share the duties and having the LeBron and Kobe puppets broadcast a special pre-ga
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Super Win for CK Over Rice
The Christ the King players posed for pictures at center court, surrounding a massive silver trophy and then doused head coach Joe Arbitello with apple cider in the locker room.
While the Royals claimed a Nike-sponsored title yesterday afternoon, they also proved they are in contention for the CHSAA Class AA intersectional title, beating defending champion Rice, 60-52, in front of a capacity crowd of more than 1,800 in Middle Village, Queens.
“We proved that we are contenders,” senior forward Dominykas Milka said. “We are going for that city championship this year."
Among those in attendance were Louisville coach Rick Pitino, Florida’s Billy Donovan and Knicks forward David Lee, who all sat courtside. The Knicks City Dancers entertained, Clyde Frazier tossed out a few of his trademarked terms over the PA and Funkmaster Flex and rapper Fabolous whipped the crowd in a frenzy at halftime.
“It was reckless,” Christ the King forward Roland Brown said of the atmosphere. “Today was a good day for us to show up and we did what we had to do.”
Led by Milka and Brown, Christ the King (16-4, 9-2 B/Q) did a solid job on Kadeem Jack, who didn’t arrive in the gym until a half hour before the scheduled tip. The 6-foot-9 forward, who scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, said he and his mother were stuck in traffic.
“I decided to just get out of the car and run here,&rdq
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CTK beats Rice, Clinches 1st Place
The Christ the King Men's Freshmen team clinched the top seed in the city-wide playoffs with a 75 - 71 win over the Raiders of Rice High School Sunday.
Not to be overshadowed by Super Bowl Sunday, the freshmen showed why their game was the game to watch. With an estimated crowd of over 1000 people for the 12:00 start, it appeared as though Rice was going to run away with the game early. They jumped out to a 7 - 2 lead, only to see the Royals charge right back and tie the score at 16 by the end of the 1st quarter. Leading the charge for the Royals was Jonathon Severe and Isaiah Lewis, as they came up with big steals in the press and converted a number of transition baskets.
The second quarter saw back and forth action as both teams traded basket. James Coleman asserted himself inside, showing why he was the most dominating offensive player in the paint. He scored 7 points in the quarter, allowing Lewis and King to get wide open shots, which they would convert. Midway through the quarter, Severe changed the momentum in favor of the Royals with a monster one handed dunk in transition that brought the crowd to their feet. The Royals would go into half-time with a commanding 13 point lead.
The third quarter saw key reserves Brandon King and Maynard Grant show why they are such v
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CTK Owns Molloy at Home
Although Archbishop Molloy had its run with Christ the King in the squads' first meeting last month, upsetting the Royals 60-59, it was a different story on Friday.
Led by the hot shooting efforts of Maurice Barrow and Omar Calhoun, Christ the King got its revenge by defeating the Stanners, 67-51, at its Middle Village, N.Y. home court.
Christ the King got an early lead in the first quarter, closing out the period with a 26-12 advantage on a 3-pointer by Calhoun (17 points). Senior big man Dominykas Milka and Barrow (17 points) were instrumental in gaining the lead by grabbing boards for second-chance opportunities for themselves or teammates.
Barrow finished with a game-high 12 rebounds, while Milka grabbed a total of eight boards.
The size mismatch down low and at the small forward position became obvious from the early periods and, ultimately, the Stanners' offense was stifled. Unlike the previous match-up with the Royals on Jan. 8, Molloy was not vying for rebounds, did not have the same speed to the rack or show the accuracy from the perimeter it once did to match intensities with the Royals.
Consequently, Christ the King led 37
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Royals bounce back, beat Archbishop Wood
Christ the King Coach Bob Mackey knew falling behind to Archbishop Wood wasn’t an option following a grueling loss to Shabazz (N.J.) Saturday.
“If they got to us, I don’t think we were going to be able to come back down the stretch,” Mackey said.
Luckily that wasn’t a problem. CK was behind by two after the first quarter, but pulled away before halftime and never looked back in a 75-66 win over Archbishop Wood (Pa.) at the Blue Chip Shootout at Archbishop Carroll HS in Radnor, Pa., Sunday afternoon.
“I think we showed some guts,” Mackey said. “We came back playing hard even though we were tired.” Ariel Edwards, who was named the game’s MVP, scored 29 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and
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CTK Crowns St. Peter's Prep
NEWARK, N.J. – Joe Arbitello has seen his team bounce back from difficult losses all year. They did it after a shocking defeat at Molloy and again in a semifinal loss to nationally-ranked Milton (Ga.) in the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions.
But nothing compares to what he saw at Prudential Center on Saturday afternoon as, less than 24 hours after a home loss to rival Bishop Loughlin, Christ the King defeated St. Peter’s Prep (N.J.), 75-72, in overtime at the Newark National Invitational.
“We’ve done this all year where we’ve lost games and then beaten teams, but we’ve never beaten a team of their magnitude,” the Royals coach said. “They’re good, they’re really good. That’s a big-time player in Myles Davis. He can really flat out shoot it and get to the basket. It’s a huge win to make sure that we got back on track after losing to Loughlin yesterday.”
Against a Marauders team ranked fourth in New Jersey by the Newark Star Ledger, the Royals rallied from 11 points down in the third quarter, nearly blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before eventually winning in overtime.
“Who would expect us from down 11 in the third quarter to win like that?” asked CK point guard Corey Edwards. “Losing to Loughlin yesterday, we could have come out here with our heads down and not ready to play.”
Edwards struggled from the field,
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Player of the Week: CTK's Corey Edwards
One of the reasons Christ the King is considered one of the top boys basketball teams in New York City is because of its versatility -- from a rising star in sophomore shooting guard Omar Calhoun to the interchangeable and workmanlike big men Maurice Barrow, Dominykas Milka and Roland Brown to a deep bench that includes T.J. Curry, Kareem Thomas and Terrel Hunt.
But when it comes to the team’s quarterback, its engine, the guy running the show is Corey Edwards and he’s a huge reason why Christ the King enjoyed an impressive 3-0 week in CHSAA play. He is arguably the best pure point guard in the city and that could separate the Royals from the rest of the pack come March.
Just ask Xaverian coach Jack Alesi.
“The kid Edwards is one of the best guards I’ve seen in this league in a long time,” Alesi said. “The kid knows the game. He has that Levance Fields swagger about him.”
On Friday, Edwards paced the Royals to a 67-34 victory against Holy Cross in the team’s home opener and followed that with a huge performance against rival Bishop Loughlin, scoring 21 points and dishing out 10 assists as the Royals won in Fort Greene, 68-57, in a battle of two of the top three teams in The Post’s New York City boys basketball rankings.
“He took over the game,” Calhoun said. “In the second half he started makin
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Stingy Royals trip up Clippers
In addition to going over strategy and diagramming plays, Joe Arbitello sends his players out for each quarter with one mission: to hold the opposition under a certain point total.
“We don’t think about how low it is,” Christ the King sophomore Omar Calhoun said. “We try to get it done.”
For the most part, the Royals have kept Arbitello happy. Tuesday evening, they certainly did, limiting Xaverian offensively in a 55-38 win, the third time CK has held a league opponent under 40 points.
The Royals (12-3, 6-1 B/Q), second in The Post's NYC boys basketball rankings, didn’t explode offensively – senior forward Maurice Barrow was the lone player in double figures with 14 points – but they did have depth. Dominykas Milka and Roland Brown each added eight points and 10 rebounds, Corey Edwards had seven points and eight assists and Calhoun also had eight points.
“Defense is basically our offense,” Barrow said.
Calhoun, a sophomore highly regarded for his perimeter shot, did a fine job on Xaverian sharp-shooter Brian Bernardi, limiting the underclassman to five points, all in the first half. He also guarded Clippers leading scorer Justin Exum (12 points). He refused to let either guard free for an open look or let them get by him to create for others.
“We just harp defense, defense, defense,” Calhoun said. “I like guarding the other team’s best player.
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