Cristo Rey boys basketball coach Derrick Lifsey said his team relies heavily on defense. After a shaky first half Sunday against Park, the Hornets used that defense to help win a second consecutive conference title.
Jamal Lee scored a game-high 20 points, and the Hornets swarmed the Bruins in the second half to secure a 58-50 win in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association C Conference championship game at Harford Community College’s APG Federal Credit Union Arena.
Cristo Rey (15-12) won the title last year against Key, and this was the Hornets’ third straight appearance in the championship game. Park (14-7) was trying for its first title since 2006, the last time the Bruins reached the finals.
The first half went back and forth until Park used a 12-point run for a 23-15 lead with just under three minutes left. But Lee and Aaron Perez sank back-to-back 3-pointers, and Lee banked in a 3 with eight seconds left and cut the lead to 25-24 at halftime, and that sparked the Hornets.
“It just took us a minute to get going,” Lifsey said. “I think that we allowed those guys to [drive] into the paint too much in the first half. We hang our hat on ability to stop people.”
The Hornets did much more of that in the second half. Park scored 25 points in the final two quarters, just as it did in the first half, but the Bruins needed to scratch and claw for every one of them.
The driving lanes were shut down, and Ryan Bradley (16 points) and Ryan Adams (11 points) experienced much more trouble getting to the rim. Park often got the ball inside to Ry Hermann (14 points) in the first half, but when he had possession in the paint in the second half, there were hands everywhere.
“That’s the trademark of that team, them playing physically, especially the guards,” Park coach Anthony Adams said. “It gave us problems, especially in the second half. They never let up.”
Cristo Rey slowly took over in the third quarter. The Hornets scored nine of the first 12 points of the half, five from Lee again, and took a 33-28 lead. They never trailed again.
The fourth quarter saw more of the same as the Hornets slowly stretched out the lead. Park played a 2-3 zone, but Lee made three of his four 3-pointers from the corner in the second half to beat that defense. For the Bruins, their defense proved effective, but Cristo Rey made enough outside shots or had players like Lee and Khari Barrett (10 points, six on fourth-quarter free throws) keep getting to the line.
The Hornets did not even attempt a free throw until the fourth quarter but then made 11 of 17 to stop any hopes of a Park comeback. Cristo Rey and the Bruins split their two regular-season meetings, with each team winning on the other’s court, but once the Hornets came out and played better defense — and offense — in the second half, they took over the game.
“We said at halftime that we had to compose ourselves and stick to what we’re used to doing — and that’s defense,” Lee said. “We believe in ourselves, and [this] feels great.”
C — Alexander 3, Yancey 7, Barrett 10, Johnson 1, Perez 5, Minaya 5, Lee 20, Yarborough 6. Totals: 20 11-17 58.
P — Adams 11, Bradley 16, Okoro 8, Hermann 14. Totals: 18 11-20 50.
Half: P, 25-24.