Xaverian falls to Christ the King in Brooklyn-Queens championship

March 4, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Rawle Alkins, a Canarsie native, helped to defeat Xaverian during the Brooklyn-Queens final when he scored 27 points and played excellent defensive basketball. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese

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Xaverian High School lost 66-59 to Christ the King High School during the Catholic High School Athletic Association Brooklyn-Queens Diocesan tournament in Queens on Feb. 27.

“This is a very tough loss, very tough,” said Xaverian senior Najee Larcher. “We came into this game knowing that we could win, but by the end, we just stopped playing hard.”

Xaverian trailed for most of the game, but it was close the entire time. Christ the King had a 39-32 lead at halftime, but the Xaverian Clippers battled back in the third quarter and eventually tied it at 44-44.

The two teams traded leads for a while until Xaverian took a 56-50 lead when Doyin Isaac hit a pair of threes with 6:50 left in the game. That’s when the Clippers blinked and everything changed.

“When we went up six, we were so in the moment that we stopped getting back; we were celebrating,” Larcher said.

Just as Xaverian was celebrating, Christ the King star and Canarsie native Rawle Alkins went off. In a span of two minutes, Alkins nailed a pair of threes to tie it and then gave Christ the King the lead on a slam dunk. Then, to protect that lead, Alkins turned it up on defense and blocked a pair of shots by Larcher.
“When he hit those two threes it just killed our momentum,” Larcher said. “We knew we were slacking on defense. We were not getting back; it killed everything for us.”

Alkins finished with a game-high 27 points to help crown Christ the King the Brooklyn-Queens champions. Teammates Jared Rivers had 17 and Jose Alvarado had 10. For Xaverian, Larcher led with 21, Isaac had 14 and Sayon Charles had 13.

After the game, Xaverian coach Jack Alesi joked about his failed plan to stop Alkins. “I was kidding around with the kids on the bench — ‘I’m going to make him a jump shooter,’” Alesi said. “Great game plan. I made him a great jump shooter.”

This loss was a tough one for Xaverian, but it isn’t the end of its season. The Clippers now head off to the AA Intersectional playoffs where they could see Christ the King again. If they can win that tournament, they’ll advance to the state tournament.

“Coach was proud of us,” Larcher said. “He told us that we came out, accepted the challenge, played hard, did everything right. Now we have to use this game as motivation because we want to see them in the city championship.”