Xaverian loses in city final to three-time champion Christ the King

March 17, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Members of the Xaverian Clippers — Bard Featherston, Brandon Leftwich, Zack Bruno and Khalil Rhodes — look on in disappointment as they watch Christ the King hoist the CHSAA championship trophy for the third time in three years. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese

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Xaverian High School lost to Christ the King 59-56 in the Catholic High School Athletic Association’s AA city championship at Fordham University on Sunday. Christ the King, which beat Xaverian in the Brooklyn-Queens final two weeks ago, has now won the last three CHSAA city titles.

“We came into this game thinking about revenge because we thought that we could beat them,” said Xaverian forward Najee Larcher. “They’re not that much better than us, but they proved to be the better team today because they played harder.

“This is really tough for us,” Larcher continued. “Our entire team is basically seniors, so this is really hard to lose like this in our final game.”

Christ the King star Rawle Alkins was nearly late to the game after getting stuck in traffic, but he managed to show up at the last minute and helped the Royals build up a 10-point lead by the second quarter.

Still, Xaverian made it an exciting game. The Clippers fought back to pull to within one point at halftime and took a 36-31 lead in the third quarter, as forwards Larcher and Sayon Charles were hot.

Christ the King came right back with a 12-0 run to start the fourth, gaining a 10-point lead, but once again, Xaverian was able to erase it. Christ the King led 53-50 with 2:39 left to play when Xaverian fell out of its game and started chucking threes. The plan didn’t work; the Clippers finished just 2-for-16 from behind the arc.

“I think that’s just how the game goes,” Charles said. “Some shots fall and some don’t. You can’t really do anything about it. We gave ourselves a chance, but they made big shots and big plays and we didn’t.”

Alkins, a Canarsie native, was the game’s MVP with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists for Christ the King. Charles led Xaverian with 16 points, Larcher had 10 and Doyin Isaac, Nyontay Wisseh and Bard Featherston each had nine.