It took
Christ the King's 6'10" cemter Adonis Delarosa a while to shake the rust off. Coming off a
two game suspension following a flagrant foul in Christ the King's loss at
Bishop Loughlin on Jan. 31 Delarosa was a factor at the rim and on the boards
but everything seemed just a little off. A normally reliable free throw
shooter, he missed some early in the game. And a couple of passes and rebounds
went off his normally reliable hands.
Fortunately
for the Royals and Adonis, his teammates and in particular Travis Alston helped
the Royals start quickly. Alston's 8
first quarter points included a powerful fast break finishing dunk and a long
three pointer from the wing. Scoring from he and Rawlie Alkins combined with poor shooting by
Bishop Loughlin gave the Royals a 27-18
halftime advantage.
Loughlin
tried to counter the Royals size and length by moving the ball quickly but even
when they succeeded getting good shots they had an uncharacteristically hard
time finishing them. Though they missed
a many layups a late rally punctuated by a vicious left handed dunk by Khadeem
Carrington kept the Lions within striking distance.
With a
surprising assist from their own big man, 6'8" senior center AJ Vernon the
Lions finally slowed down a bit and began to find the range on offense.
Vernon's good work inside which included a nice spinning one handed bank shot
combined with Javian Delacruz' outside shooting brought the Lions back. They
trailed by just 34-29 after 3 quarters and pulled to within one on a Delacruz
triple early in the final stanza. Mike Williams had a right wing three point
attempt that bounced off the rim that would have given the Lions the lead and
that's when Delarosa really went to work.
Perhaps
not surprisingly the first skill of Delarosa's to show itself after a rusty
beginning was his best skill; his passing.
On one play he got the ball at the elbow and quick passed it down to
Alston on the opposite side block for a basket. The impressive thing about the
play was to see his eyes looking for the next pass as he caught the
"hockey assist" from Andre Walker. His 14 point final quarter
explosion included several tough catch and finish plays, and rebounds where he
had to get from one side of the rim to the other. His size might mean he's not
fast but he's exceptionally quick, not only with his feet but in the way he
sees the game. He put an exclamation point on a 23 point 11 rebound effort with
a spinning baseline drive that included effective use of a lefty dribble, and a
block at the other end.
His work
combined with Alston's 21 points and 11 rebounds helped the Royals even the
regular season score against the Lions.
Both teams have held serve at home and if form holds in the Brooklyn Diocesan
playoffs it will set up a great final next week. While a lot can happen in the
playoffs and Hayes remains the team to beat in the New York Archdiocese
"AA" these two teams may be
headed towards a rematch of last year's intersectional final. New York's own "March
Madness" is almost here. And some great hoops is on its way.
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