It's worth noting, and getting out of the way early, that Gooding's great effort did include one small misstep, a missed dunk as the Royals were trying to close out the game in the final minutes. Gooding then exacerbated that problem by hanging on the rim in a fruitless attempt to direct the ball through the hoop. All of that said though, and especially since the Royals got the win, that poor play should be just a footnote in what was a great all-around effort.

That effort began with Gooding showing fans something new, an accurate jumper that he nailed quickly from the top of the key for CK's first basket. He hit several more as the game moved along but fortunately for the Royals, he hasn't forgotten the things he's always done well. That's because what they needed him to do more than anything was rebound. CK's senior center missed the game with a foot injury, and not having his size in the lineup diminished the size advantage the Royals have against the small but quick Knights. Gooding's work around the basket and six quick points from Larry Davis gave the Royals an early lead but the Knights regrouped behind a pair of long jumpers from Gordon McKenzie and one from Anthony Clarke. From there the game seesawed back and forth to a 28 all tie at the half, and both teams needed contributions from the bench to reach that point. For Holy Cross senior reserve Shokanni McKen subbed ably for foul plagued Mike Johnson while junior Merlin Bass contributed good minutes as well. For the Royals the chief contributor among several subs was Darren Duncan, who hit seven first half points, had two steals, and perhaps most importantly keyed the Royals effort to keep those small quick Holy Cross guards out of the lane..

CK rallied in the late stages of the third and early part of the fourth period mainly behind Gooding and Davis, but Chris Martin contributed a key basket and Nico Scott, returning to league play for the first time following a ruptured appendix hit his lone trey to give the Royals a 10 point advantage.

The Knights had a brief rally of their own that was punctuated when Johnson hit Clarke for a circus basket and foul that forced him to spin and flip a shot off the board. From there the Royals did miss some free throws, but did just enough to hang on for a well earned victory.

The opener of Sunday's triple header at Christ the King featured a rematch of the IABBO tournament semi-final game between the freshman Royals and the freshman Knights of Holy Cross. The Knights won that first game, but Sunday the Royals got some revenge with a 73-51 victory.

The game was a tour de force for Erving Walker, who followed his 42 point effort at Xaverian on Tuesday with a 37 point effort here. Despite the slightly smaller point total, his game Sunday might have been better because his passing and sharing of the ball were better. As he helped the Royals surge to a big lead in the early going, he also put just the right touch on two perfect passes that lead Marquise Grant to the basket for lay-ups. On the first one, he waited just long enough for Marquise to get some space between he and his man before letting it go, the timing was perfect.

Then, in the second half as Holy Cross tried to rally behind inside work by Eddie Toussant, and solid mid-range shooting by Blaise French, he showed perhaps the most important attribute a point guard needs to be a great one, leadership. And he did it by trusting a teammate.

Up to that point, Walker's shooting had carried CK's offense, in part because physical defense Edy Toussant and a fast whistle by the refs had put Grant and fellow CK inside player Ryan Pearson on the bench. After Holy Cross finally pushed the gap under 10 late in the game Walker found Tony Turkovic twice on the left side for baskets, one a long jumper and the other a tough drive off the glass. Those plus another long trey by Walker put the game away for the Royals.

While Walker provided much of the offensive spark and several players shared the work of interior defense, Joe Nuss' good work defending Holy Cross' Sylven Landesberg both inside and away from the basket was outstanding. Landesberg, who has emerged as one of the freshman levels most versatile performers, was held to just 5 points on a trey and a pair of free throws

Finally a word must be mentioned about the freshman level this season. This week I got to see two great games featuring three teams, CK Holy Cross and Xaverian. It's worth noting that St. Ray's and Rice also have teams that must be considered "in the mix" for title contention. I bring this up for two reasons. First because it's the surest indication that the class of 2008 figures to be a great one for our region. But most of all, my intention is to encourage fans attending varsity games featuring these schools and others to get to the games early (4:00 usually). These young guys not only deserve to play in front of appreciative fans, but the experience of doing so will only enhance their development as players.'