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USA Women Capture Inaugural FIBA U17 World Championship Gold Medal With 92-62 Win Over Host France
USABasketball
July 25, 2010• Toulouse, France Rolling undefeated through the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship, the 2010 USA Women's U17 World Championship Team (8-0) capped its impressive performance with a 92-62 win over host France (5-3) in front of a raucous crowd in the tournament's gold-medal game on July 25 inToulouse, France. |
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Bria Smith makes Team USA
June 11, 2010 Colorado Springs, Colorado- Bria Smith, from Christ the King High Regional High Schoool in Middle Village, New York will join 11 other players on the USA U17 Team that will travel to France this summer and play in the World Championship. Bria is a Junior on the Christ the King Team that captured the New York State Championship this past March. She joins fellow Christ the King Alumni Chamique Holdsclaw, Sue Brid, and Tina Charles in wearing the USA jersey. |
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NY Post Girl's All-City Player of the Year, All City Honors
All-City girls basketball Player of the Year: Ariel Edwards, Christ the King The tears flowed from Ariel Edwards eyes at center court of the Glens Falls Civic Center. For the Christ the King senior it was the culmination of so many things. Edwards, who transferred to the Middle Village school from Elmont as a sophomore, could finally celebrate a New York State Federation Class AA title on the same day her fine season and career came to an end. “It’s bitter sweet,” she said. “It’s my last high school game. I am very happy we won. Great way to end my season.” So was her performance in CK’s win over Sachem East (L.I.). The Penn State-bound forward scored nine of her team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 15 rebounds. Double-doubles were not a rarity for Edward this season and she was the Royals’ most consistent player on both ends of the floor. CK (25-6) climbed to a No. 12 national ranking in USA Today by year’s end. “I used to get frustrated easily last year,” Edwards said. “If I missed a shot it was like the end of the world to me. Now if I miss a shot I am like, ‘OK, I am going to make the next one.’” The maturation process was even more evident on the defensive end. The WBCA All-American did not always like contact in the past, but this year she lead the Royals in charges, including seven in one game against Mary Louis. She took a shot to the head early in CK’s CHSAA state Class AA final contest against St. Michael Academy, but quickly shook it off and went on to score 19 points against a front line filled with Division I players. “She is just playing better all together,” junior guard Bria Smith said. “She is rebounding, scoring, everything.” First Team G Bria Smith, Christ the King There may not be a more physically gifted player in the city and all of those were on display in the Royals Federation title run. The junior and No. 5 recruit in the country possess the ability to dominate a game in transition and by slashing to the basket. Smith scored 17 of her season-high 31 points at the free throw line and had 22 in the second half in a state semifinal win over rival Murry Bergtraum. Some of the nation’s top DI schools have already come calling. Third Team F Nia Oden, Christ the King Oden’s game became more diverse this season. The junior forward, also a tenacious defender, added a mid-range game to her ability to score, rebound inside and run the break. One of her finest games was a 19-point performance in a win over St. Michael Academy in the CHSAA Class AA state final. |
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Former Christ the King star Tina Charles chosen No. 1 in WNBA Draft by Connecticut Sun
Former Christ the King center Tina Charles was picked first in Thursday's WNBA draft by the Connecticut Sun. This comes just two days after Charles helped UConn win their second NCAA Championship in a row. Charles averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds per game this season for the Huskies, and was named Big East Player of the Year, playing a big part in UConn's 78-game win streak. "It's unbelievable, my heart is still pounding out of my chest," Charles told the AP. "I'm more interested what impact I'll have on the team more than just being the No. 1 pick." In High School, Charles led Christ the King to two straight Class AA state titles. Her senior year, the Royals went undefeated, capping off a 57-game win streak, and were ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today. In addition to winning National Player of the Year honors during her senior season, Charles was named New York's "Miss Basketball" and the Daily News' Player of the Year. Charles is the third Christ the King player to go No. 1 in the WNBA Draft, joining Sue Bird, who the Seattle Storm picked in 2002, and Chamique Holdsclawi, who joined the Washington Mystics in 1998 |
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Christ the King's WNBA Royalty
Christ the King wasn’t Tina Charles’ first high school choice. That was Archbishop Molloy. CK’s girls basketball legacy was lost on her as a youngster. “I had no clue,” said Charles, the starting center for top-ranked Connecticut. But as soon as you enter the Middle Village gymnasium, you can’t help noticing all the trophies, All-American jerseys and newspaper articles about players like Chamique Holdsclaw and Sue Bird. Charles, whose UConn team beat Stanford win the national title Tuesday night, will follow in their footsteps Thursday when she is likely to be the top overall pick in the WNBA Draft by the Connecticut Sun. No high school program has had more than one alum get selected first and Christ the King will probably have three by week’s end. There aren’t too many schools that have any No. 1 picks,” said Royals coach Bob Mackey, who guided CK to a record 15th New York State Federation title last weekend. “It’s a great honor for the team and the program. I’m hoping she does.” Charles, who says she still keeps in touch with Mackey and assistant coach Jill Cook, said there was no better way to get ready for college basketball than being at Christ the King. It wasn’t just the preseason, five-mile runs the CK players do on the beach in Rockaway every year. It’s also the success. Charles, a 6-foot-4 center, won two mythical national championships there to go along as a precursor to two more in Storrs. “They challenge you and help you prepare for the future,” Charles said. And CK, which was one of the first schools to get a sponsorship with Nike for girls basketball, seems to develop some of the best players in the history of the women’s game. Bird, who plays for the Seattle Storm and graduated from UConn, and Holdsclaw of the Atlanta Dream were both named to the WNBA All-Decade Team in 2006. They both played for legendary Christ the King coach Vinny Cannizzaro, who retired and gave way to longtime assistant Mackey 10 years ago. “Christ the King was unlike any other high school team,” Bird said via email from Russia, where she is playing with international powerhouse Spartak Moscow. “We had the expectations of a college team and were treated and coached that way. We had study hall, we traveled far distances and even on some occasions we had shootaround. Those are things that college teams do. It helped instill a mindset that I've taken with me to college and into the professional ranks – both on and off the court.” Holdsclaw had similar memories. Cannizzaro was the good cop then and Mackey, who was coming off guiding the St. Nicholas of Tolentine boys to a mythical national title, was the bad cop – “straight bananas, kicking trash cans and stuff.” Cook, the lone female on the staff, was someone the girls could lean on and who had been there before – she played at Georgetown. Holdsclaw, who went on to Tennessee, said it was like a college staff in a high school setting. “Coach [Pat] Summitt runs a tight ship, but it’s nothing I wasn’t ready for,” she said. “It wasn’t just basketball wise, but academically they put their time in, too.” Bird said if she had to give Charles any advice it would just to be enjoy every moment. There are plenty of those she can savor. On March 1, she became UConn’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder on the same night. Charles was selected Big East Player of the Year and last weekend she was honored with the AP National Player of the Year award. The Huskies went 78-0 the last two seasons with two titles. None of her vast accomplishments have really surprised Mackey, who said Charles had the look of a pro very early on. “We thought that her first year playing here on the JV,” he said. “She was that good.” Charles only got better, making her the latest in a long line of greats from the women’s basketball factory that is Christ the King. “I think Tina is WNBA-ready,” said Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who probably hopes Charles slips to her team with the second pick. “Her game is so suited for our level, whether it is her ability to score in post-up situations or her offensive rebounding. I think it is a great story if you followed her throughout her career. Watching her maximizing her talents her senior year was really fun. [She’s] a player who is going to be able to step in and be immediately helpful.” mraimondi@nypost.com |
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Back on top: CK tops Sachem East for Federation 'AA' crown
GLENS FALLS – Bria Smith watched the seconds tick away on a moment she had waited three years to experience. The Christ the King junior won a New York State Federation Class A title as a freshman, but it left her thirsting to reach the pinnacle. As Smith tossed the ball in the air and was mobbed by her teammates, the journey to the top was complete. “I know it is the tip top of what we can reach in New York,” Smith said. “It just feels great being No. 1.” The Royals shook of a sluggish performance and used a dominant fourth quarter to outlast Sachem East (L.I.), 56-47, in the state Federation Class AA girls basketball final Sunday at Glens Falls Civic Center. It's Christ the King’s record 14th crown at the highest classification and its first since 2006. CK (26-5), which finishes the season on a 10-game winning streak, beat Sachem in 1995 for the state crown. “You just have to show them that Christ the King is back,” senior Jackie Michel said. Christ the King, which trailed by two after three quarters, outscored Sachem East, 16-5, in the fourth. Penn State-bound senior Ariel Edwards scored nine of her 23 points in the quarter and grabbed 15 rebounds. Her 3-point play with 2:29 left in the game gave CK a 51-44 lead. Smith, who was named tournament MVP, netted 19 and collected nine boards. Sachem’s Boston College-bound guard Kristen Doherty dropped in 29 points. The Royals though felt the Flaming Arrows fatigued and they remained fresh. “Ariel wasn’t tired,” said CK coach Bob Mackey, who lives in Smithtown. “She still had some life. We told her if you can take, let’s take [Caitlin Hopkins]. She made some greats move on her.” Doherty’s hot shooting and the Royals struggling to finish kept Sachem East (22-4) in the game for three quarters. CK shot just 18-of-29 from the free throw line and saw layup after layup bounce out. Doherty hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 27 at the half. She scored off a pass from Hopkins to give her team a 34-31 lead with 5:42 left in the third and Sachem East led 42-40 heading into the fourth. “I got a little nervous,” Edwards said. “We are used to putting away games like this.” That is exactly what she and Smith, who was named to the Parade Magazine All-American third team, did. Edwards dominated the paint and Smith never stopped attacking the rim to combine for 13 of CK’s 16 points in the final quarter as Sachem East went cold from the outside in the final quarter. The Royals completed a journey in which they beat the rest of the who’s who in New York girls basketball. Check off St. Peter’s, St. Michael Academy and Murry Bergtraum among many others. It all culminated with Smith dribbling out the clock and waiting for the CK bench to empty around her. “It felt amazing because I knew that we won,” Smith said. “That moment, it just like hit me.” jstaszewski@nypost.com
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Crowned Royals: CK tops St. Michael Academy for CHSAA 'AA' state title
The Christ the King boys team will have company in Glens Falls. The school’s girls squad erased the memories of last season and beat defending state Federation champion St. Michael Academy, 61-48, in the CHSAA Class AA state girls basketball final Sunday at Cardinal Spellman. It is the Royals' 26th Catholic state crown. “I don’t know how to describe it,” forward Ariel Edwards said. “We wanted this for so long. From the beginning this was our goal. Everything was you don’t want to feel the same way you felt last time.” Edwards and Nia Oden scored 19 points each and Bria Smith had 14 for CK. McDonald’s All-American Jennifer O’Neill led the Eagles with 22 points, nine of which came in the fourth quarter, and Starr Breedlove added 10. St. Mike’s (19-6) beat the Royals (24-5) in the quarterfinals last season.
“It’s amazing having both of our teams win,” Smith said. Edwards got an early reminder of the physical play that helped the Eagles knock of the Royals a year ago. The Penn State-bound senior got hit hard early in the first quarter, but this was a different CK team, a tougher more focused squad. Edwards shook if off and then clapped it off. “I was a little upset of course,” she said. “It’s just a way of a team getting into your head. I just let it go and continued to play my game.” Christ the King advances to play PSAL champion Murry Bergtraum on March 27 in the state Federation semifinals in Glens Falls. It is the Middle Village school's first trip upstate in the highest classification in three years. The boys team traveled from Fordham University to Spellman after winning the CHSAA ‘AA’ intersectional title earlier in the day. “Murry Bergtraum hasn’t lost a game all year,” Mackey said. “[But] right now we get to enjoy it.” St. Mike’s tried to rally for the second straight day, but could never get the Christ the King lead under 10 in the fourth quarter after it trailed 41-29 after three. Jackie Michel buried an open 3-pointer from the right corner and on the next possession she grabbed a rebound and fed Oden for a jumper with 50 seconds to extend the lead to 14. “I was very relaxed this game,” Oden said. “I wasn’t nervous at all.” When forward Tiffany Jones and Taylor Ford finally entered in the game, the Eagles went on a 9-2 run capped by a Brianna Sidney 3-pointer to cut the CK lead to just 17-16 with 3:16 left in the first half. It was the only time St. Mike's out muscled Christ the King. "The better team won," Eagles coach Apache Paschall said. The Royals, though, responded with an 8-2 spurt of their own to take a 25-19 lead in the break and never really look back. St. Mike's continually tried to crank up its defensive pressure especially after halftime, but CK calmly navigated and passed its way through it. "Sometimes I don’t even know how we scored because their defense was very intense," Edwards said. In two weeks, the Lady Blazers, a longtime rival, will stand between the Royals and their 14th ‘AA’ Federation crown. “We are tested for this,” Smith said. “We had the week off for this tournament. I think we are going to be fine. We will still have our intensity. We will be ready to play.” jstaszewski@nypost.com |
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Focused Royals crown St. John the Baptist to start 'AA' states
Bob Mackey didn’t need to see his Christ the King girls basketball get off to a fast start to know the Royals were focused. He saw it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in practice. “After running them hard, sprinting and sprinting, they were still in the gym working after practice,” Mackey said. “There were nine kids in the gym shooting around at 7:15 [a.m. this morning]. They know what this weekend is all about.” Bria Smith saw the same thing. “It felt like we wanted to play so bad,” she said. It certainly showed. The Royals blew the game open with a 17-2 run to end the first quarter, led 40-19 by halftime and never looked back in a dominant 70-48 victory over St. John the Baptist (L.I) in the CHSAA Class AA state tournament at Bishop Ford HS in Park Slope, Brooklyn Friday night. They meet St. Peter’s tomorrow night at Christ the King at 7 p.m. Ariel Edwards posted game-highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds. The Penn State-bound forward also shot 9-of-11 from the field. Nia Oden added 10 points and Smith had 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Smith's all-out effort, treating her body like a crash dummy at both ends of the floor, said plenty of the Royals’ intensity. On one possession, she leaped over a taller forward for an offensive rebound, and flung a bounce back to Oden under the basket as her momentum carried of her out of bounds. On another play, she sprinted to the perimeter to swat a shot into the CK bench. “Her goal – and the goal of her teammates – is to not take any possessions off,” Mackey said. Christ the King (22-5), ranked second in The Post’s NYC girls basketball rankings, could’ve have asked for a better tune-up. The Royals frustrated the talented Cougars on the defensive end, scored in half-court sets and in transition, dominated the glass and sank long jump shots. “That was fun,” Mackey said, smiling broadly after speaking with his players. “Kids played hard, they really played hard.” They are now just two victories away from a return to Glens Falls, but the wins won’t be easy ones. First is a matchup with Staten Island champion St. Peter’s, a hot-shooting, well-coached club that nearly knocked off St. Michael Academy. Smith said beating St. Peter’s won’t be an easy task, but the talented junior couldn’t help but look forward to a possible rematch with St. Mike’s. It was the Eagles that knocked off Christ the King in last year’s state quarterfinals. “The players on last year’s team, we don’t want that feeling again,” Smith said. “We’ve kind of held on to that feeling. We want revenge.” For the Royals, retribution isn’t the only form of motivation. CK hasn’t competed in the State Federation Class AA tournament, which used to be a yearly tradition, the last three years. They went up to Glens Falls two seasons ago and won a state title, but that was a Class A crown. “We want to get what other CK women’s teams of the past have,” Oden, a junior forward, said. “We want to get upstate. That’s the drive we have.” |
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Christ the King holds off late TMLA charge to claim B/Q title
The CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens championship trophy is considered part of the family at Christ the King. It has called the Middle Village school home for most of a quarter century. “We were saying it’s on a leash,” sophomore guard Lauren Nuss said. “We are taking it for a walk and it’s coming home.” The hardware arrived with the Royals and left with them Tuesday, but not without a serious scare from The Mary Louis Academy. The Hilltoppers sliced a 14-point third quarter lead to just two late in the fourth, but CK was able to pull out a 53-47 win in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I girls basketball title game at St. John’s Prep . The crown is CK's 25th in the last 26 years and its second straight. Christ the King beat Mary Louis in last year’s final.
We went brain dead for a good five minutes,” junior guard Bria Smith said. “But it just feels good to be able to pull it out and get the win.” The Royals (21-5) went up 40-26 on a layup by Penn State-bound forward Ariel Edwards with 2:35 left in the third quarter. They then had poor shot selection, settling for long jumpers and trying to score quickly in transition without a numbers advantage. It allowed Mary Louis (18-7) to get out in transition and outscore CK, 15-4, over the third and fourth quarters. Karin Robinson spun in for a layup to cut the led to 45-43 with 3:07 left to play in the game. Edwards scored 15 points and Smith had 14 for Christ the King. Nuss and Nia Oden each added 11. Avis Benjamin dropped in 12 points and Reana Mohamed nine for Mary Louis. “As soon as we felt them getting close we felt like we needed a quick shot when what we needed was a good shot,” Edwards said. Added CK coach Bob Mackey: “It was just awful.” His team settled down just in time and never let the Hilltoppers get closer. Rayne Connell scored off a loose ball under the basket and Edwards made two free throws to make it 49-43 with 1:42 remaining as Mary Louis failed to convert on the other end. Edwards and Nuss each made two free throws to close it out. “It was one of those possessions where you need to get the ball, she got it and scored,” Smith said of Connell’s late bucket. “We really needed it.” The Royals now play St. John the Baptist in the CHSAA Class AA state quarterfinals at 7 p.m. March 12 at Bishop Ford. The Hilltoppers get the winner of Thursday’s CHSAA Class AA Archdiocesan title game between St. Michael Academy and St. Peter’s at 5 p.m. March 12 at Archbishop Molloy. Christ the King hopes this title is one of many this season. “It’s great, but we are never satisfied,” Edwards said. “We want the next one. Hopefully it will turn out our way.” jstaszewski@nypost.com |
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Smith's steal sparks Christ the King past Molloy
Bria Smith knew exactly where the ball was going next with the clock ticking down in the third quarter. In the Christ the King guard’s mind it couldn’t be headed anywhere else. “I knew they were trying to get it to the high post to get it to Kyra [Aloizos],” Smith said. “I knew I should get that.” So when Archbishop Molloy’s Kathryn Edwards turned and threw a pass to the top of the key, Smith broke and tipped the ball out to half court. She raced down and beat the buzzer with a layup to put the Royals up three heading into the fourth quarter. Christ the King carried the momentum for the entire final quarter and pulled away for a 68-55 win over Archbishop Molloy in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I semifinals at Archbishop Molloy Sunday night.
. “That was a big play. She really extended herself, had a great line on it,” CK coach Bob Mackey said. “With four seconds left in the quarter, I think that’s a big momentum builder.” The Royals' big-game experience took over from there. Rayne Connell frustrated Molloy point guard Marielle Duryea and Christ the King turned up its defensive intensity, which Mackey called “porous” early on. The Stanners scored just nine points and had one field goal, an Amani Tatum 3-pointer, with 7.9 seconds left. Christ the King went on a 14-2 run to start the quarter, highlighted by a Jackie Michel 3-pointer to extend its lead to 63-48. “I think our attitudes in the first [half] kind of messed us up,” Smith said “We were a little just go, go, go, go, go. We should have just been the way were in the fourth, settling everything down.” Smith scored 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds and collected her 1,000th point on a second-quarter free throw. Nia Oden had 18 points and nine boards, Ariel Edwards scored 14 points and Michel had six for CK (20-5). Aloizos scored 18 points, Elizabeth (Gurt) Lynch had 13, Amani Tatum 12 and Duryea 10 for Molloy (11-15). The Stanners played without guard Kelly Guerriero, who sprained her ankle in a quarterfinals win over St. Francis Prep. “Bria just turned it up in the fourth quarter,” Aloizos said. “Defensively they played great. We couldn’t make a shot.” Her team played inspired basketball for three quarters. Duryea, Tatum and Kathryn Edwards handled the Royals' pressure and Lynch had one of her best games on both ends this season. She scored nine second-quarter points to pull Molloy within 37-32 at the half and scored four straight points to cut the CK lead to 47-46 with 44.5 left in the third. “She is starting to feel more comfortable out there,” Stanners coach Tom Catalanotto said. While Molloy hoped to carry the momentum into the CHSAA Class A state playoffs, the Royals get a familiar foe in the finals as they try to repeat. They play Mary Louis for the second straight year 6 p.m. Tuesday at St. John’s Prep. Smith and her timely steal was a big reason why. “It was a great game changer for everybody at that point,” Oden said. “We excelled from there.” |
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Varsity Girl's Basketball Diocesan Tournament
Varsity Girl's Brooklyn-Queens Diocesan Semi-Finals at Molloy Sunday 2/28 #2 Bishop Ford vs. #3 Mary Louis Academy 4:00 #1 Christ the King vs #4 Molloy 5:45
Varsity Girl's Brooklyn-Queens Diocesan Championship Tuesday 3/2 at St. John's Prep 6:00 PM
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Ready Royals knock off nationally ranked Carroll
RADNOR, Pa. – Christ the King feels its matured at just the right time. The Royals have rued not closing out wins against nationally ranked teams this season, but there was no such problem in a 62-50 victory over host Archbishop Carroll (Pa.) in non-league girls basketball yesterday. The Patriots, ranked No. 19 in the country according to USA Today, are CK’s second straight win over a top-tier opponent after beating Trenton Catholic (N.J.) on Sunday. “This is really like a growing step for us,” junior guard Bria Smith said. “It had everyone, even the people on the bench, step up and go do what they had to do. It just shows what we have to be doing in the playoffs.” Ariel Edwards had 21 points and seven rebounds and Smith added 14 points and seven rebounds as both played the entire fourth quarter with four fouls. Nia Oden had 12 points, Rayne Connell had six points, seven rebounds and four assists and Jackie Michel added six points. Connell held Carroll’s Erin Shields (25 points and five 3-pointers) to just 10 points in the second half, after she scored 15 in the second quarter. Meghan Creighton added nine points. “I like what I saw,” CK coach Bob Mackey said. “They didn’t back down.” The Royals (19-5) led nearly the whole way. The Patriots (19-3) cut what was a 14-point second-quarter lead to 34-28 at the half thanks to an aerial display from Shields. The sophomore hit two NBA-range 3-pointers to pull Carroll back into the game as CK was tagged with an inordinate amount of holding fouls that put Oden, Edwards and Smith all in foul trouble. “I was looking for anything,” Mackey said of stopping Shields. “Philly cheese steak. I was going to buy her a pizza. She put on quite a show.” He found the answer in Connell. The sophomore made Shields put the ball on the floor and said she tried to use her length as an advantage. It made it hard for Shields to see the basket and helped force a number of errant passes in the fourth quarter. The Patriots cut their deficit to four multiple times in the third, but never got closer. CK led 44-38 heading into the fourth, even with the Penn-State bound Edwards missing a majority the third quarter. Edwards and Oden each hit two free throws to extend the lead to 10. Shields would hit a 3-pointer, but Edwards responded by knocking down a short jumper and Smith finished strong to the rim to put CK up 54-43 with 5:22 left in the game. “Everyone realized we cannot come this close and let games slip by us,” Edwards said. Christ the King had chances to knock off nationally-ranked Long Beach Poly (Calif.) and Malcolm X. Shabazz (N.J.) and lost to an excellent St. John Vianney (N.J.) team Saturday. The hope is that getting over the hump could get them more consideration for a national ranking of its own and have the Royals ready for a New York State Federation Class AA title run. “It’s preparing us for the playoffs,” Connell said. “I think we are capable of anything.” |
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Edwards named WBCA All-American
By MARC RAIMONDI and JOSEPH STASZEWSKI Ariel Edwards remembers beating herself up all too often last season. The Christ the King forward said she felt like a missed shot was the end of the world and she was not able to mentally recover from it. “I would sit in my self-pity sometimes, instead of just playing,” the Penn-State bound senior said. “I would let one little event get me and ruin my whole game.” Edwards moved past that this summer playing for the Philly Belles AAU team with CK teammate Bria Smith. She said she wanted to make an impact on the national scene and did so by leading her team to the finals of the US Junior Nationals in Washington, D.C., where she held her own against Chiney Ogwumike, the nation’s top recruit heading to Stanford.
“Her mentality over the summer was totally different,” Smith said. “She just got very hooked into what she is doing.” That has carried over into what has been a stellar season so far at Christ the King and earned her another chance to prove herself as one of the nation’s elite. Edwards was selected Tuesday as a WBCA All-American along with St. Michael Academy guard Jennifer O’Neill. They, along with 18 other honorees, will get to play in the annual game April 3 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. This year's version will be the first to be played on the same court as the NCAA Women's Final Four. “I was very excited,” Edwards said. “I am going to get to play in Texas with all the best players. It’s an exciting experience.” She has earned the honor by having one of the best all-around seasons of any player in New York City. The 6-foot-2 Edwards can lead or finish a fast break, shoot the 3 if need be and can also score in the post. She said she has matured this year, putting bad plays behind her. “Now she will miss a shot, but now she is going after the rebound,” CK coach Bob Mackey said.
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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 was 13-of-14 from the free throw line for Christ the King. Bria Smith scored 23 points and had seven boards and Jackie Michel added eight points. Stephanie Keyes dropped in 16 points to lead Archbishop Wood (14-4), which routed St. Peter’s earlier this season. Christ the King (14-4) outscored Wood, 21-6, in the second quarter. They did so behind solid half-court man-to-man defense, a dominance of the backboards and getting out on the break. Mackey was pleased to see his team execute in the half-court and not have to rely on its press to dominate a game. The win helped CK bounce back from a 53-51 loss to nationally ranked Shabazz. “We had to play defense,” the coach said. “There is no shot clock in Pennsylvania, so we really have to come out and defend. If you left this team open for a heart beat they were going to hit a 3.” |
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Christ the King 65 Molloy 58
The Royals left Briarwood with a 65-57 win over Archbishop Molloy in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I girls basketball Friday night. It was CK’s eighth straight victory. “Any time you can go into Molloy and they are shooting the ball well and get a win, we will take it," Mackey said. Senior Ariel Edwards led all scores 26 points to lead the Royals (12-3, 8-1 B/Q). Nia Oden had 15 points, 11 Rebounds and Bria Smith added 12. The Royals next game is Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey against Shabazz High School ranked #1 in the state. |
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Christ the King rides another fast start to its sixth straight win
There isn’t a magic formula to Christ the King’s furious starts. There is nothing special said in the locker room, no motivational speeches prior to tipoff. “We come out intense on defense – that’s all it is,” junior guard Bria Smith said. The Royals have started especially quickly recently, but Sunday was flat out ridiculous. Christ the King scored the first 18 points against South Shore, led 20-2 after the first quarter and cruised to a 59-42 victory over the Brooklyn squad in the New York Post CHSAA vs. PSAL Girls Basketball Invitational in Middle Village, Queens Sunday night. This, just two days after racing out to a 32-6 lead over Bishop Ford.
“Since we were in Arizona, something just clicked in our heads,” said Smith, referring to the Nike Tournament of Champions in late December. The Royals have won six straight since returning. That tournament, forward Ariel Edwards said, taught them to start intense. Edwards led CK (10-3) with 15 points and five rebounds, Smith added 13 points and five rebounds and Nia Oden had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Fannisha Price paced South Shore (10-3) with 13 points. It was the Edwards and Smith show from the get-go. The Penn State-bound Edwards started the game with consecutive layups while Smith followed with an old-fashioned 3-point play and a steal and layup. Said Edwards: “Getting into the passing lanes, playing good ‘D,' pushing the ball – that’s how we want to play.” The biggest improvement has been their play on the defense end. The press, which led to the big start, has improved. Against South Shore, CK turned the Vikings over, leading to one easy hoop after another. The Royals constantly ran after rebounds, too, whether it was Edwards, Oden or Smith leading the break. “I love the way we’re coming out,” Christ the King coach Bob Mackey said. The one negative is the Royals’ have been unable to sustain their hot starts, which, in a way, is understandable. They come out so quick, so full of energy and enthusiasm, once the lead grows to a certain point, they relax. Mackey felt his team got “bored” at one point on Sunday, in fact. “It’s easy to say we won this game already and relax, but that’s something we can’t do,” Edwards said. That’s music to Mackey’s ears. The longtime coach would like to see the Royals add onto their big early leads instead of watching them disintegrate. There will be times their shots don’t fall, but the team’s pressure defense should remain the same. “We’ve got to be more consistent, come out and keep it up,” Mackey said. “We’ve been coming out prepared, playing really well. The important part is sustaining our defense.” zbraziller@nypost.com |
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Royals ground Falcons 65-42
Christ the King left little doubt about its feelings heading into a rematch with Bishop Ford. The players were exuding energy from the moment they stepped through the metal doors leading up from their locker room. You could hear them chanting on the way up even with a close JV game going on. “We wanted it more than anything because we shouldn’t have lost that first game,” junior Nia Oden said. The Royals proceeded to blitz Bishop Ford, which won the teams’ first meeting, in the opening quarter. It ended a 29-2 run with four straight steals on the press by Bria Smith and Oden leading to nine points to build a 24-point second quarter lead. The Falcons tried to get back into the game, but the early deficit proved too much to cover as Christ the King completed an impressive, 65-42 victory in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I girls basketball Friday night in Middle Village.
“That happens when we throw our press on people sometimes,” Smith said with a smile. The junior was superb. She scored just four points and fouled out in Ford’s 73-64 win on Dec. 7, which was just CK’s second regular season league loss in a decade. This time Smith poured in 26 points, 14 from the free throw line, dished out five assists and grabbed seven steals. She and Oden, who scored all of her 13 points in the first half and grabbed 13 rebounds, combined for 25 of CK's 31 points at the break. Ariel Edwards had 15 of her 17 points in the second half. Still, the Royals felt they could be better. “I am just waiting for the game where we play all together and we all play really well. It will definitely be a show,” Edwards said. Ford (12-2, 5-2 B/Q) led early, but scored just two points over a nine-minute span. Christ the King (9-3, 6-1) forced 31 turnovers, was diving on the floor for loose balls, taking charges and closing the lane. It held Ford’s Boston College-bound guard Shayra Brown to just eight points, all in the third quarter, but still felt it could be better. “We lost focus,” Royals coach Bob Mackey said. “You can’t come out and play that kind of first quarter and not be able to sustain it.” He watched Ford end the first half on a 9-0 run to pull within 31-17 at the half. The Falcons got the lead down to 36-24 on three Brown free throws with 5:30 left in the third quarter. Then Edwards got going, scoring seven of CK’s next 10 points to build the lead back to 18 late in the period. Vanessa D’Ambrosi led Bishop Ford with 13 points and Daini Mason added 10. Aggressive defense leading to fast break offense has been the Royals' staple during a five-game winning streak since going 2-2 at the Nike Tournament of Champions in late December. Edwards said it helped prepare them for teams such as Ford, which has quick guards. “The first time we played Ford our defense was weak,” she said. Even after a win in which the outcome was never in doubt against one of the city’s best team’s, the Christ the King players felt the outcome still wouldn’t silence any of the naysayers who felt their team was vulnerable after its loss to the Falcons. “People always doubt us,” Smith said. “We just need to keep proving people wrong.” |
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CK and Bishop Ford on a Collision Course
Christ the King 78, Bishop Kearney 49: Bria Smith scored 23 points and collected seven steals for Christ the King (8-3, 5-1) in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I. Ariel Edwards had 16 points and nine rebounds and Nia Oden added 11 points and nine boards. Christ the King will play Bishop Ford Friday night, 7:30 at Christ the King. Both teams are tied for first place in CHSAA Division I. Bishop Ford (11-1 and 4-1)defeated Christ the King 73-64 in overtime earlier this season. |
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First-half blitz holds up for Christ the King versus TMLA
Bria Smith grabbed the ball out of the air off the opening tip and, before the packed crowd was even settled into their seats, she swooped to the basket for an acrobatic layup. The Christ the King junior guard didn’t stop scoring until the buzzer sounded, signifying the end of the first half. CK was all over Mary Louis from the very start, scoring 13 of the game’s first 16 points. The Royals were intense defensively and relentless on offense – the two things that enabled them to play with some of the country’s best teams at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Ariz., last month.“We wanted to come right out,” Christ the King coach Bob Mackey said. “I wanted to get out of the gate early.” The Royals took their foot off the pedal, though, after halftime and host Mary Louis came back to cut its deficit to just five points in what would be a 65-57 Christ the King victory Saturday night in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I girls basketball. It was a very odd game to pinpoint. CK (7-3, 4-1 B/Q), ranked No. 4 in New York City by The Post, looked so dominant on both ends of the court at times. Yet No. 6 Mary Louis (6-3, 3-1) hung around despite countless missed layups and 17 missed free throws. “It was excellent defense in the first half,” Mackey said. “In the second half, we took a little bit of a vacation. We played 20 minutes.” Christ the King’s largest lead was 45-24 at halftime. Mackey admitted to his team taking its foot off the pedal a bit in the second half and Mary Louis, despite foul trouble, gained confidence. The Hilltoppers still trailed, 56-39, with 26.2 seconds left in the third quarter, but used a 12-0 run, capped by a Karin Robinson basket, to get within 56-51. Nia Oden scored twice inside down the stretch for the Royals, though, and Smith’s steal and fast-break layup with 1:53 brought the lead back to 63-53, pretty much sealing things. “You have to stay calm at those points,” Smith said of when teams are mounting a comeback. “You can’t rush it. I think sometimes we rushed too much.” It was defense on that steal that cemented the victory and it was defense that helped give Christ the King the lead in the first place. CK’s press created turnovers and transition opportunities and, in the halfcourt, its 2-3 zone was difficult to contend with for Mary Louis. Royals senior forward Ariel Edwards drew an incredible seven charges. Mackey called that the difference in the game. “That was one of my goals,” the Penn State-bound Edwards said. “Last year against them, I picked up a lot of fouls, because I wasn’t moving my feet.” Smith had 20 of her 25 points in the first half and Edwards finished with 17 points for Christ the King. Camille Romero had 13 points, Avis Benjamin and Christy Calderon each had 11 points and Robinson added 10 for Mary Louis. The reason for the early intensity and fire was simple, Edwards said. Last month’s loss to Bishop Ford – just CK’s second league loss in 10 years – has been a thorn in their side. “We’ve been getting a lot of talk from people, ‘Oh, you guys aren’t as good this year,’” Edwards said. Added Smith: “I feel we have to prove ourselves every time we come out.”They certainly did Saturday – for a half.-mraimondi@nypost.com |
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Edwards fuels Royals defense in rout of St. Francis Prep
Christ the King appears to be a different team since returning home in late December after the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona. The biggest improvement has come on the defensive end. The Royals are playing harder and more disciplined. “Now we are getting more rebounds because we are quicker in our rotations,” senior forward Ariel Edwards said It was most apparent in the second quarter against St. Francis Prep. Led by Edwards, who took a charge early in the period, the Royals clogged up the lane, turning steals and stops into transition baskets and dominated the defense glass. They went on a 13-0 run then and cruised to a 58-32 win over St. Francis in CHSAA girls basketball Tuesday night in Middle Village. Edwards, who is headed to Penn State next season, scored 10 of her 14 points in the quarter. “She can be the defensive catalyst for this team,” CK coach Bob Mackey. “She can be the offensive catalyst, too. She is very capable of taking over a game and that’s the level she can play at.” St. Francis Prep (6-3, 1-1) missed a plethora of layups in the first half and began shying away from contact as the second quarter went on and the scoring drought continued. Even when it looked like there would be an opening, another CK defender slid in front. The Terriers have knocked off Bishop Ford, which beat Christ the King (6-3, 3-1) earlier this season. “I don’t think they are ready for primetime yet, but it’s improved,” Mackey said of his team’s defense. “We are starting to get the idea. If I can get Bria Smith to step in and take a charge, that’s a pretty good thing.” Edwards stole an inbounds pass as the Royals' changed up their press and Smith, who scored 11 of her 18 points in the third quarter and took an offensive foul during the run, stole a pass at halfcourt and drove in for a 3-point play to give CK a 25-5 lead with 4:10 left befor halftime. Christ the King opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run to put the game away. Nia Oden added 10 points. Shatira Hamlet and Meghan Erdman each add six points for St. Francis, which has now lost three in a row. “Our defense was a little too much for them,” Smith said. The star junior, who has battled foul trouble all season picked up her second foul less than two minutes into the game, but didn’t pick up another in the game. She, at one point, slipped in mid-air around an SFP defender toward the baseline for the layup with UConn coach Geno Auriemma in attendance. “I told Mackey that I won’t pick up another one,” she said. Her team, though, has seemed to have picked it up since splitting four games against some of the nation’s best teams in Phoenix. The Royals were more physical and focused than the squad that arrive there in early December. “Last year we were kind of Prep when we played St. Michael [in the CHSAA Class AA state quarterfinals],” Edwards said. “They played physical with us and we weren’t used to it. Now we are going to be a physical team, because we have to prepare ourselves for whoever we might play.” jstaszewski@nypost.com |
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CK finishes 2009 with win over Western Mass. Champions
In 2009, East Long Meadow High School won the Western Massachusettes State Championship. They returned 4 of their starters this season. So the opportunity to travel to New York City would be a great chance to show their skills. This was not the case after the first quarter on Monday night at Christ the King in Middle Village. The Spartans led the host Lady Royals 12-8 midway through the first quarter when Christ the King went on a 10-0 run and never looked back. Leading at the end of the first quarter 24-18, the Royals defense stepped up and held the visitors from the Bay State to only 4 points whlie pouring in 23, led by Senior Ariel Edwards who scored 10 of her game high 21 points. The Royals led 47-22 at the half. Christ the King cruised to a 75-38 victory with 10 players scoring in the victory. Christ the King finishes the 2009 year with a 5-3 record and will begin 2010 against St. Francis Prep on Tuesday January 5th at Christ the King. Game time is 5:30 PM. |
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Bria Smith Athlete of the Week
Last Updated: 8:16 AM, December 24, 2009 Posted: 10:20 PM, December 23, 2009 Bria Smith’s best performance at the Nike Tournament of Champions had the worst of starts. The Christ the King star guard picked up two fouls in the game’s first 40 seconds and spent the rest of the first quarter on the sidelines against Long Beach Poly (Calif.), ranked fifth in the country by USA Today. “I knew my teammates could handle it,” Smith said. “But it was pretty tough sitting there watching the game from the bench. Once I got it in, I was fine again.” She was better than that. Smith went on to score 18 points and grab 12 rebounds, playing in foul trouble. She, along with Penn State-bound forward Ariel Edwards, stepped up down the stretch. Smith had a 3-point play late that cut the Jackrabbits lead to three, but the Royals ultimately fell, 58-54, to a team that walloped defending New York State Federation Class AA champion St. Michael Academy early this season. “She spent the whole first quarter on the bench and still played a great game,” Christ the King coach Bob Mackey said. “It would have been greater if she was able to play those first six, seven minutes. That would have been outstanding.” That is exactly what Smith was in the first three games of the tournament, before running out of gas like the rest of her team in a disappointing loss to Mount Lebanon (Pa.) in the finale. She averaged 19 points per game and had 23 and 26 points, respectively, in wins over Dillard (Fla.) and Riverdale-Baptist (Ga.) as CK finished 2-2 and in sixth place in the Joe Smith Bracket in Phoenix, Ariz. “I thought she really took it up a notch,” Mackey said. “The challenge is to really come out and step up and play at the national level and I think she did that.” He believes the way Smith played in the tournament needs to continue to become the norm and could just be an opening act for what could be a tremendous season. “It’s like an actress putting on a great performance,” Mackey said. “You’ve put on a great performance, alright, now if can you put several of those performances together and can you build on that. I think she can.” Smith is considered one of the top juniors in the country and has had to make the switch to point guard this season, though she says she is more comfortable slashing from the wing. She can get to the rim at will at times, is great in the passing lanes and is starting to find her jump shot. Mackey said she had been aiming the ball early. She scored just four points, struggling mightily from the field, as the Royals were upset by Bishop Ford on Dec. 7. “If it’s wide open I aim it,” Smith said. “If I just take my natural shot, it usually goes it.” Foul trouble, though, has been a constant issue for her this season. She fouled out early in the fourth quarter against Bishop Ford and seemingly played the entire Tournament of Champions with four fouls. It’s becoming so normal that Smith said she is getting uses to it, but admits to making dumb decisions and being over aggressive. She believes she is learning to be smarter. “She feels she can just take the ball from pretty much anybody,” Mackey said. Smith was pleased with her and the team’s performance, but felt it had the potential to be even better. If anything, it prepared her and the Royals for the challenges awaiting them back home in what appears to be a very balanced CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens division. “Playing against the best competition out there gets us ready for the rest of the season,” Smith said. “We want to be the champions of New York [State]. If we play the best teams, it just gets us ready.” |
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Christ the King Tames the Tigers
Bishop Kearney scored the first basket of the game. Christ the King responded with a 12-0 run and never looked back as the Royals defeated Bishop Kearney 77-61. Leading the way for the Royals was Bria Smith with 23pts, 6 steals and 8 rebounds while teammates Ariel Edwards added 17 and Jackie Michel 10. The Royals improved their record to 2-1. Their next game will be against Dillard High School from Florida in the opening round of the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday. |
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Royals rue missed opportunities, mistakes in loss to Ford
Nia Oden isn’t ready to forget any moment of what happened at Bishop Ford. The Royals shot poorly, didn’t rebound well enough, turned the ball over too much and watched the Falcons enjoy a center court celebration after a 73-64 overtime win in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens girls basketball Monday night in Park Slope. It is just the Royals' second regular-season league loss in the last 10 years. “We are going to remember it,” Oden said. “We will remember how hard they came to play, the things that we didn’t do to come back to win the game. We were given several opportunities to win the game in regulation, but we just didn’t take advantage of those. These things you remember forever.” Christ the King grabbed its first lead of the second half when Jackie Michel connected on a 3-pointer from the left corner and Ariel Edwards hit Lauren Nuss on the baseline for a layup to put the Royals up 60-57 with 2:18 left to play in the game. After an Oden missed jumper with scored tied at 60, CK (1-1, 1-1 B/Q) tipped a ball away from Ford’s Shayra Brown along the sideline and Oden forced a jump ball to get the Royals possession with 27.1 seconds left. Coming out of a timeout Christ the King coach Bob Mackey wanted to hold for the final shot. “It was repeated. Unless you got the layup, put it out and reset it,” he said. “Didn’t do it. We have to be smarter than that.” Instead Ariel Edwards received a pass as she cut across the lane. She turned and shot the ball and was blocked by Brittany Martin. “That was my fault,” Edwards said. “I was supposed to bring it out, but I forced it. It was a bad choice.” Ford (2-0) missed four free throws down the stretch that would have closed it out in regulation. Oden looked to have a clear layup to the basket on a fast break, but had the ball knocked away from behind and it was called out of bounds on her with 5.9 seconds to go. Brown scored six of her game-high 24 points in the overtime, including a crucial 3-point play to give the Falcons the win. “We have a lot of work to do,” Edwards said. “Coming off the game from Loughlin I guess we were a little bit too confident and it came back to bite us.” So did foul trouble. Junior star Bria Smith scored just eight points and struggled mightily from the field. She picked up her fourth foul with 1.3 seconds left on the rebound of a missed Oden jumper in the lane on a fast break. She fouled out early in the fourth. Edwards (17 points) picked up her fifth with 4.3 seconds left in regulation and Oden, who had 13 points, fouled out in overtime. “Those last two fouls were dumb basketball,” Mackey said of Smith. “You can’t be 1-for-15 [from the field] and not play good defense. That is something she has got to learn.” Just as the Royals need to learn how to better handle a hostile environment and an emotional and physical team. CK returns three starters from last year, but its relying on a handful of players up from the junior varsity and returnees with little big game experience. Ford’s trapping pressure caused 26 turnovers and the Falcons outworked CK on the boards. “We got frazzled,” Edwards said. “With the crowd and everything, we fed into that too much. Especially with our younger players who just came up from JV, this is their first experience in a close tough game on the varsity level. They were throwing the ball away a lot. All of us were. We all played terribly and they played really well.”
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Women's Varsity Opens the 2009-2010 Basketball Season
Christ the King 89, Bishop Loughlin 39: With the entire Christ the King Boys Basketball program in attendance the Girl's took center stage to kick-off the 2009-2010 Basketball Season. With a raucous crowd behind them, the Lady Royals erased any memories of last year's season ending loss in the State Catholic Playoffs by routing Bishop Loughlin in the home opener. Junior Bria Smith scored 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out seven assists for Christ the King (1-0) in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens. Sophomore Lauren Nuss had 20 points and Junior Nia Oden had 13. Penn State bound Senior Ariel Edwards added six points and 11 rebounds.
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Straight to the point: Smith running Royals' up-tempo attack
It took Bob Mackey around five seconds to decide how to fill his Christ the King team’s hole at point guard. He just handed the ball and the job to Bria Smith, one of the top juniors in the country. “I don’t want to put somebody out there who is going to have to learn,” Mackey said. “I’d rather have her just do it and run the show. She is very capable of moving the ball, she is very capable of pushing the ball.” It moves the 5-foot-9 Smith, who is in her third year on the varsity, away from her natural position on the wing. There was a need for her to run the team with Geleisa George now at American University and senior guard Eliana Scanlon transferring to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia this summer. Smith, who is known for her explosiveness and ability to finish at the basket, is growing into the roll.
“I was kind of unsure about it at first, but now I am getting use to playing with my team and being at the point,” she said. “It’s getting like second nature now.” A big year is expected of Smith, who scored 40 points on the road against Mary Louis during an up-and-down sophomore season. She is part of a trio of returning starters along with Penn State-bound senior Ariel Edwards and athletic junior Nia Oden. “I feel that Bria is coming out with a bang this year,” Oden said. The Royals lost their most consistent player and rebounder in Tahira Johnson, now at South Florida, from last season’s Brooklyn/Queens championship squad that finished 18-8. “I need to do more. Bria needs to do more. Nia needs to do more,” Edwards said. “We are the leaders of this team.” Edwards is coming off a phenomenal summer that saw improved aggression, perimeter game and ability to defend some of the nation’s best forwards and guards. Smith said the 6-foot-2 forward looks much more comfortable this season. Oden, who was a pest on defense and on the glass last season, is looking to be more of a prolific force offensively. “Nia’s going out there every day thinking she is going to score 20 points,” Mackey said. Christ the King will be much more guard orientated this season and is looking to play a fast pace and aggressive style on both ends of the floor. It will be a much better shooting team than a year ago. CK scored in the paint and off its defense most of the time last season. Senior guard Jackie Michel who should find herself in the starting lineup is now fully recovered from a torn ACL she suffered as a sophomore. Guards Rayne Connell, Lauren Nuss and Jackie Mullen, up from the JV, and seniors Jessica Wasserfall and Tara Rock, who broke her finger in the early last season, can also stretch the defense. “We might be shooting out of the locker room,” Mackey said. “I took all the safeties off. I feel like the Hunt for Red October. All the safeties are off, missiles are live and we are going out shooting.” That’s exactly how Smith, who Mackey said is on a bit of mission, likes it. The team hasn’t forgotten its tight CHSAA Class A state quarterfinals loss to St. Michael Academy last season and the Royals have not made a trip to Glens Falls to the state Federation tournament as a Class AA team the last two seasons after being regulars at the upstate enclave. “That loss really just has our eye on the prize this year,” Smith said. … “We don’t want to feel that way again.” |
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From Christ the King to the NCAA
The tradition continues at Christ the King as 2 more Women’s Basketball players will join the ranks of the Royals playing in the NCAA. On Monday night, November 17, 2009, Seniors Ariel Edwards and Tara-Ann Rock signed their National Letters of Intent. Ariel will be attending Penn State University next fall and Tara-Ann will attend Concordia College. In the company of their families, teammates, and coaches both Christ the King Seniors signed their scholarship letters for next season. They join a very long line of CK players, who have gone on to play at the college level, including current University of Connecticut standout Tina Charles.
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Opening Day! 128 Days to Glens Fall
The Women's Varsity Basketball season began this morning in quest of their 15th New York State Federation Championship. Led by Penn State signee Ariel Edwards (Senior), Bria Smith and Nia Odon (Juniors), and a strong cast from last seasons City Champion JV team. The Lady Royals are a strong contender to be playing in Glens Falls for the New York State Federation Championship on March 26, 2010 only 128 days. GO ROYALS! |
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Fall Harvest Festival
Members of the Women's Basketball program along with Cheerleaders and members of the Football team assisted the CK Community Day Care and Universal Pre-K staff with face painting, games, rides, pumpkin picking and a petting zoo on the front lawn of Christ the King High School for all the children in the day care and pre-K programs. |
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Christ the King reclaims throne after one season in exile
Tuesday, March 3rd 2009, 5:07 PM
Christ the King's painful loss to Molloy in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens title game last season didn't only shatter its 23-year reign as Diocesan champion. It also left longtime CK coach Bob Mackey trying to cook up a way to help his players leave that defeat in the past. What Mackey came up with was rather unique. "We put everything in a box - the whole season's stats, the book, everything we won, everything we lost," Mackey said. "The kids put their thoughts on paper. That box got burned. We moved on." They sure did. There will be no box burning for the Royals this year. One day after the CK's boys won the Diocesan crown, the ladies followed suit, edging Mary Louis with a 67-53 victory at St. Francis Prep on Saturday night to reclaim their throne. Bria Smith scored 15 of her 20 points in the second half, while teammate Nia Oden added 13 for CK. "It just feels so good to have the trophy back because we're the ones last year that kind of gave the trophy away," Smith said. "Everything is normal again," added senior guard Geleisa George. "The trophy is back where it belongs, in its house. That's all that matters." Adding to the win was the fact that the Royals beat the Hilltoppers shorthanded. Senior forward Tahira Johnson left the game with 2:09 left in the first quarter, hobbled after banging her knee with a Mary Louis player while going for a rebound. Johnson complained of soreness after, but should be fine for the Class 'AA' state tournament. The Royals meet St. Michael Academy at Holy Trinity HS on March 13. Under the state's revamped format, top seeds draw harder matchups in the early going. St. Michael has been ranked among the nation's top teams for most of the season, but the Eagles lost to St. Peter's in the Archdiocese 'AA' final. The CHSAA's new state tournament format doesn't sit well with Mackey, who questioned the need for the changes. "If someone can figure that out, God bless you," he said. "I have absolutely no idea why that is. Mary Louis should not be playing the winner (of St. Michael and St. Peter's) and we shouldn't be playing the loser (of St. Michael/St. Peter's)." Mary Louis coach Kevin White didn't understand it either. His team will face St. Peter's. "With the way the brackets are set up, I don't understand the whole format," White said. Opposition to the revamped system has been so strong, CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens chairwoman Denise Hillig told the Daily News, that the league will revisit the system after this year's tournament. "It will not happen again next season," Hillig said. "We will make sure that doesn't happen. We'll see how this tournament goes and then evaluate it." Regardless of what lies ahead, Saturday's outcome had the Royals feeling regal again. "It's nice when both boys and girls get it," Mackey said. "It's a good feeling." |
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Terriers, Royals reminded of basketball's true place
By Joseph Staszewski January 27, 2009 There were plenty of reminders that the importance of what happens on the court pales in comparison to the events off it.
A pink and white basketball, pink t-shirts and ties were all worn or used during a girls’ basketball game between St. Francis Prep and Christ the King in Fresh Meadows Tuesday night as part of the CHSAA’s Coaches vs. Cancer week. The proceeds from all the games go to the American Cancer Society.
The Terriers, though, were given a much more personal reminder of basketball’s true place in the pecking order of life with the death of senior guard Nevica Vazquez’s father Marcelo, 52, Sunday night. He suffered a heart attack last Monday and had appeared to be improving.
“It came out of nowhere,” senior point guard Aliya Donn said. “It was just so upsetting.”
The players created the night’s most moving symbol. They decorated calf-high socks with Vazquez’s number 5 and her last name in red and blue, which they plan on continuing to wear. Vazquez, who has been away from the team physically, was with them now.
“I think we played better today because it was not just about basketball,” senior Kelly Simon said. “We played for Nev and for her father, even though we lost.”
The Terriers fell, 63-46, to Christ the King, which played its bench the majority of the game, especially from the end of the third quarter on. Nia Oden led the Royals with 13 points and Tahira Johnson added 11. Niya Walker had 10 points and 11 rebounds and Jenna Halaby added 10 points for the Terriers, whose effort level never diminished in the game. St. Francis Prep could have cut the lead to single digits late, but missed shots in the paint.
“They didn’t back down,” Terriers coach JoAnn Wager said. “That’s all I wanted. [Nevica] would never back down. She might be 5-1, but she would never back down. [I told them] take that out on the court with you and just don’t back down and they didn’t.”
Even the Royals noticed the charge in the Terriers.
“They had a lot of emotion in the game,” senior guard Geleisa George said. “I understood where it was coming from.”
The Terriers will attend the wake Wednesday.
“We haven’t been able to see her yet,” said Simon, who, along with a few of the Terriers, had been coached by Marcelo Vazquez. “We’ll see her (Wednesday). It’s going to be hard.”
While it has been a difficult last nine days for the Terriers, who lost to Bishop Kearney and Molloy before collecting their best win of the season against Notre Dame Academy, Tuesday was filled with plenty of pleasant and memorable things.
“They enjoyed themselves,” Wagner said. “They knew it was for her. They had more fun buying the socks and putting her number on it and her name on it and going out there and being proud that she is part of their team.”
The special pink and white basketball was also an added treat.
“It was awesome,” George said. “I like the pink ball. I want one now.”
George, who has had members of her family battle breast cancer, added she wishes they could use the ball for a month.
“It makes the game that much more special,” Donn said. “When you see those colors going through the air it makes me more pumped up.”
So did the number and the name on their socks.
“It makes you realize that [basketball] isn’t the No. 1 priority in life,” Donn said. “It’s always there for fun.”
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Johnson and Edwards lead CK's successful opener
By Zachary Braziller December 5, 2008 Geleisa George dove headlong, extending her arms like a running back reaching for the goal line. The ball was out of reach, but the scorer’s table wasn’t. She flopped on top of it, nearly landing in the Christ the King statistician’s lap.
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