Shagari Has Career Night
Christ the King coach Bob Oliva has been one of
Shagari Alleyne's most vocal supporters.
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Unfortunately, Alleyne's coming out party came at the
expense of Oliva's Royals, as the 7'2'' junior led
Rice to a 73-53 win Thursday night in the CHSAA
quarterfinals with a career-high 30 points, 12
rebounds, eight blocks, and six dunks.
"I've been one of Shagari's biggest advocates," said
Oliva. "I think he has the potential to be one of the
best players ever to play in this league."
Alleyne gobbled up rebounds, turned away and altered
scores of CK shot attempts, and threw down six dunks
en route to a career day. Once the seven-footer got
rolling, there were little that CK frontliners Eric
Martin and Brian Williams could do but watch.
The Royals battled Rice early, as a Japhet McNeil
three-pointer, Eric Martin lay-in, and slashing bucket
by Mitch Beauford staked Christ the King to a 13-11
lead with little under a minute to play in the first
quarter. A reverse lay-up by Brian Williams gave the
Royals a 15-14 advantage after the first.
The crafty point man McNeil would help CK stick
around, canning a leaner and finding Beauford on the
baseline for two, as Rice led by two, 23-21, with 5:15
to play in the second. Rice would gap CK with a 10-0
run over the last 2:18 in the second half, however, as
a Kenny Eusey three, a three-point play by Christian
Brown, and a three-pointer by Brown would hand Rice a
36-24 advantage at the half.
Rice would maintain a double digit lead throughout
the third quarter thanks to Alleyne, whose dunks fed
his team's energy and blocks contributed to a
sputtering CK attack. Alleyne's dunk with 1:02 to play
in the third put Rice up 17, 52-35. With Alleyne
punishing CK inside and sophomore guard Russell
Robinson, a future star for Rice, providing a jolt
with his offensive punch, the Royals would come no
closer than 13 points in the final quarter.
To go along with Alleyne's career day, Christian
Brown added 15 points for Rice, including two threes,
while Robinson chipped in nine points.
For Christ the King, McNeil finished with 19 points
and 5 assists, while Mitch Beaford closed out his
junior campaign with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Senior
Eric Martin contributed 5 rebounds and 6 assists in
the loss.
The Raiders win sets up a semifinal round match-up
with Xaverian that pits the two top post players in
New York City, Alleyne and Chris Taft, against each
other. Seldom do two players with their size and skill
match-up with one another during the high school
schedule. This weekend's clash of the titans will no
doubt be an entertaining contest, to say the least.