Christ the King (N.Y.) holds off Providence (Fla.) for consolation title
After trailing the entire game, Providence (Fla.) had a chance at a game-winning shot in the closing seconds, but Zackery Bryant’s driving shot in a crowd wouldn’t fall as Christ the King (N.Y.) held on for a 49-48 victory in the Consolation Championship game of the Beach Ball Classic on Saturday at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
“We were going to take the last shot around 6 or 7 (seconds left). We had all our shooters in,” Stallions (9-5) coach Jim Martin said. “We maybe didn’t make the best decision on a kick out.”
Martin said there was likely a shooter open because 6-foot-11 Royals center Kofi Cockburn stayed in the lane, but instead Bryant “… took a tough shot, one we didn’t have to take, I didn’t think,” Martin said.
Tyson Walker had a game-high 16 points for the Royals and Cockburn added 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Royals (7-3) led by as much as 10 in the first half and by eight with 11:30 to play, but the Stallions cut the margin to a single point three times, the last on a Kyle Marion 3-pointer with 1:50 left that would be the final score for either side.
“I’m glad the game went like that because we had to win the game on defense, and it says something about a young team when they can win the game on defense, especially with two really good guards like they had,” Royals coach Joseph Arbitello said.
Bryant, who has committed to play at UAB, finished with a team-high 12 points but was just 4-of-15 shooting, and the Stallions shot just 38.3 percent from the field in the game.
Georgia Tech-bound guard Jose Alvarado had eight points for Christ the King on 3-of-13 shooting, including going 0-for-6 on 3-pointers.
Both teams are former Beach Ball champions. Christ the King won the first tournament in 1981, while Providence won in 2013.
PROV (48): Kyle Marion 9, Zackery Bryant 12, Nieja Jordan 8, Jacorie Archie 3, Ahren Freeman 7, Jimmy Beane 2, Will Erickson 2, Tyler Perez 5.
CK (49): Tyson Walker 16, Jose Alvarado 8, Kofi Cockburn 14, Jared Harrison-Hunter 4, Joseph Phillips 2, Jaylen Davis 3, Adam El Gammel 2.
Halftime: CK 23-20. 3-pointers: PROV 6 (Marion 2, Bryant, Archie, Freeman, Perez). CK 2 (Walker, Davis). Team fouls: PROV 9, CK 12. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None. Records: PROV 9-5, CK 7-3.
This story was originally published December 31, 2016 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Christ the King (N.Y.) holds off Providence (Fla.) for consolation title."