By Dylan Butler
Christ the King has a distinct size advantage against virtually every team it has played this season. But when the Royals go big and start a Division I-sized frontcourt of seniors 6-foot-4 and taller, grabbing rebounds for the opposition is like nabbing a supermodel girlfriend — not impossible, but extremely difficult.
Such was the case for Archbishop Molloy, an undersized squad against almost every team in the CHSAA. Christ the King used its size and strength to wear down the Stanners, winning 78-62 in a CHSAA Class AA intersectional quarterfinal last Thursday at St. Francis Prep.
“When we play with our three bigs, we know we have to get the ball inside because it will just open things up for everybody else,” Christ the King junior point guard Corey Edwards said. “Our first priority is to play inside-out.”
The Royals, No. 1 in the Post’s New York City boys’ basketball rankings, will meet St. Raymond in the semifinals this week at St. John’s University. The Ravens defeated Holy Cross 67-60 in Thursday’s other quarterfinal.
Christ the King’s big men aren’t just tall, they’re also thick. Maurice Barrow is 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, Roland Brown is 6-foot-8, 240 pounds and Dominykas Milka is 6-foot-7, 260 pounds. When they box out, you feel it.
“That’s a hardworking team,” Molloy senior Ernest Rouse said. “It’s hard to make a shot every time down because they’re basically going to get the defensive rebound if we don’t make a shot. They started wearing us down. It got tough for us.”
In his final high-school game, Rouse put on a spectacular shooting display. Rouse scored a game-high 28 points on a variety of jump shots that ranged from tough to nearly impossible. And every attempt was contested, first by T.J. Curry and later by Edwards.
“He’s so good,” Christ the King Coach Joe Arbitello said of Rouse. “Where are all the college coaches? I don’t understand that. He’s a real, real good basketball player and a great kid.”
Thanks to Rouse’s heroics, Archbishop Molloy (11-16) hung with Christ the King (22-5) for three quarters. But Barrow, who scored a game-high 22 points, and Milka (14 points) proved to be too much to handle inside. And the backcourt of Corey Edwards (11 points) and Omar Calhoun (14 points) weren’t too shabby, either.
“In the first half our guards weren’t knocking down open shots, so their missed shots were rebounds for us,” Barrow said. “In practice we work on staying in shape, so at the end of games we’re not tired.”
