Catholic League Chronicles: CTK vs St. Rays at The SNY Invitational Championship
PHOTOCREDIT: Jeffrey Armstrong
The SNY Invitational championship game between the St. Raymond’s Ravens and the Christ The King Royals provided us a classic game between two catholic league rivals, and a matchup between two of the top point guards in the area Jose Alvarado and Isaiah Washington. This is one game that had tons of people in NYC watching, from the tons of people at Nat Holtman gymnasium to the fans watching on TV and Facebook live.
The Ravens started right away as the played inside by getting the ball to Darius Lee as he was able to attack the basket early. The Ravens were also getting some hot shooting from Junior guard Omar Silverio. The Royals would answer back by feeding the ball down to Kofi Cockburn who scored nine quick points, Cockburn used his size to his advantage over the smaller Ravens front court. Christ The King held 11-9 lead late in the half but St. Rays would out score CTK 9-5 to take a 18-16 lead into the second quarter. Omar Silverio hit a three pointer at the buzzer that brought the large crowd at City College to it’s feet.
The second quarter was tight as both teams scored 15 points each but St. Raymonds would go into the locker room up 33-31 at the half. Jose Alvarado had arguably one of the top plays in the half when he went coast to coast for an and one layup
In the third quarter, the ravens started to take over as they was able to build an eight point lead. Omar Silverio and Isaiah Washington were hitting shots and getting players involved on offense. It was halfway through the third quarter and it looked like St.Rays was going to run a way with it but Christ the King would come roaring back with a 13-3 run. This run would be key as Christ The King took a 47-46 lead into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter would turn out to be a very tight and competitive one as both teams fought very hard. Isaiah Washington drove straight to the rim for a three point play that brought the crowd to a frenzy as they had a 52-47 lead. Once again the Royals found themselves down but they never backed down. CTK outscored St. Rays 10-7 to cut the deficit to 59-57 with 3:36 remaining in the game. Christ The King would later take the lead after a jump shot by Jaylen Davis to give CK a 65-63 lead.
Royals regained momentum but the Ravens came right back. Down 66-64 with 36 seconds remaining Darius Lee hits a shot off the glass and gets fouled to tie the ball game. Lee would go on to miss the free throw, but after getting fouled Kofi Cockburn would split the free throws and give the Royals a 67-66 lead with 19 seconds remaining. St. Raymond’s would have one last chance to score at the buzzer but Darius Lee’s runner bounced off the rim and Christ The King would be victorious as they won the 2017 SNY Invitational Championship. Winning the game was redemption for the Royals who lost to Cardozo in last year’s championship game. Kofi Cockburn who was named MVP scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in which was one of the best performances this season, he also sealed the victory with the game winning free throw. Jose Alvarado scored 21 points and dished out 4 assists.
For St. Raymond’s Isaiah Washington scored 20 points 11 rebounds and 8 assists. Omar Silverio Scored 18 points and Mikael Valera scored 17 points for the Ravens. It was a tough loss for the Ravens but they will have their chance at revenge when Christ The King visits St. Raymond’s on February 12th in the Bronx. That will be another classic game as that will be senior day for Isaiah Washington and the other seniors on the team.
