As he was walking off the court after fouling out with 55.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter and his team trailing by one point, Christ the King sophomore sensation Omar Calhoun turned to Corey Edwards and delivered a message.
“He said I’ve got to take over the game,” Edwards said.
The junior point guard did just that, putting his team up for good with a baseline floater and sealing a second consecutive Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan title with two free throws with 2.6 seconds left as Christ the King defeated Bishop Loughlin, 66-61, at Holy Cross HS in Queens Saturday night.
CK (21-5), the No. 2 team in The Post’s New York City rankings, earns the top Brooklyn/Queens seed in the upcoming CHSAA Class AA intersectional playoffs. Top-ranked Loughlin (21-5) will play either St. Francis Prep or All Hallows in the quarterfinals.
CHSAA Player of the Year Jayvaughn Pinkston had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but seemed to be affected by the Royals physicality, especially when he drove to the basket.
“We just didn’t execute at the end of the game,” the Villanova-bound senior forward said. “There were some plays where we were getting fouled and there weren’t any calls. We can’t leave it up to the refs.”
Pinkston had a chance to put his team back in front, but his layup attempt with 9.1 seconds left went off the front rim. Christ the King’s Maurice Barrow grabbed the reboun
