Loughlin 52 – CTK 40
Bishop Loughlin head coach Bob Leckie said that this past week would show whether his team was “for real.” He got his answer: It is.
After beating St. Francis on Tuesday, Loughlin (21-3, 11-1 CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens) showed up at Christ the King’s (18-6, 10-2) gym last night and spanked the Royals 52-40, and it wasn’t really that close.
“The game was over in the first five minutes,” Royals head coach Bob Oliva said. “We were out of it.”
While that may seem outlandish, it was accurate. Loughlin roared to an astounding 21-2 run to open the game and only a slowdown offense they employed during the second half kept the score respectable. With the win, Loughlin won the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division and the top seed in the upcoming Diocesan playoffs.
“I was kind of surprised [by the start],” Loughlin sophomore Curtis Sumpter said. “In practice, we weren’t going as hard as we should have. I didn’t think it would be this easy a win.”
But the Lions played perfect basketball for the first six minutes. It seemed every shot they took went in and every CTK possession ended in a turnover. Oliva, a coach who is not afraid of being demonstrative on the bench, was nearly silent during the run.
“I can’t remember the last time we were behind by that much at the end of a quarter,” Oliva said of the 27-7 nightmare. “But you’re gonna get whacked sometimes. I’m not sure where we are right now as a team.”
A major part of the slow start was the ineffective play of Omar Cook, who hasn’t had too many down games this year. After falling behind, Cook appeared to try to do everything by himself and things quickly slipped away.
“The team is so used to me breaking the press, when I couldn’t do it, we couldn’t figure it out,” said Cook, who led the Royals with 19 points. “We can’t let teams get up like that.”
Especially a quality opponent like Loughlin, which is playing almost as well as anyone else in the league right now. South Carolina-bound Mike Boynton and unsigned Terrence Watkins are two premier players, but it has been the play of Sumpter that seems to have meant the most.
“I love that kid,” Boynton said. “He’s so good.”
Sumpter finished with 12 points and contributed effective work on the boards, impressing Leckie.
“I’ve been pleasantly pleased by Curtis,” Leckie said. “He’s really come on a lot stronger than I thought he would this quickly. He’s going to get a lot better if I don’t mess him up.”
It’s not as if the Lions need too many more weapons, with Boynton (14 points) and Watkins (10). And Loughlin made a believer out of its coach.
“We can play with anybody,” Leckie said. “Whether we can sustain that is another story. We’ll have to see.”