By Chris Barca
The Christ the King boys’ basketball team further proved why it’s considered the city’s top team, and star guard Jon Severe displayed why his recruiting stock is soaring.
He followed up his 32-point outburst in the Royals’ win over Archbishop Molloy Jan. 29 by lighting up the scoreboard for a game-high 37 points as Christ the King bested host Holy Cross 96-74 on in CHSAA Class AA boys’ basketball Friday night.
“Severe is the best shooter in the city,” Royals Coach Joe Arbitello said.
CK has now won five straight and won without star forward Jordan Fuchs, who traveled to UConn after committing to play football there earlier in the week. Severe believes that this was the first of many well-rounded wins to come.
“This is the best team win we’ve had this year,” he said. “Our defense led the way and helped create a lot of offense.”
Severe, who is being recruited by some of the nation’s top programs, said he will likely visit Alabama Feb. 16. Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia and Miami among other schools have all expressed interest in him while local colleges like St. John’s, Rutgers and Fordham all remain well in the mix for the senior’s services. Severe isn’t going to get ahead of himself. He still has a championship to chase.
“I’m not worrying about all that right now,” he said. “I think we’re the best team right now and we’ll see how good we are when we get to the playoffs.”
Very early in the game, though, it was clear that the Royals’ offense would be in clear control the entire night. Severe simply took over.
In the final 90 seconds of the first quarter, he launched a barrage of jumpers, including three shots from three-point range, on his way to 14 points by the first buzzer.
The second quarter was no different. The Royals defense forced turnover after turnover. Seven points from Severe in the final minute of play gave him 25 points by halftime and Christ the King (17-2, 12-0) a commanding 51-30 lead.
Holy Cross (10-10, 4-5) was able to make the game interesting in the fourth quarter, as the Knights went on a 15-4 run on the strength of six straight possessions with a three-pointer, cutting the deficit to 12.
Despite the long distance stroke of Josh Wallace, who scored a team-high 24, and Gemaal Davis, the Knights couldn’t claw their way back.
Severe scored eight points, capped off by a vicious one-handed tomahawk slam on a breakaway, to build the Royals’ lead back up to a commanding 21 points in the waning minutes.
“We actually thought Jordan Fuchs was a little bit better coming into today,” first-year Holy Cross Coach Tom Marchesini said. “But Severe is almost impossible to cover.”
