St. John falls to CK in state CHSAA semi

Kamala Thompson had a chance to redeem herself. After missing a pair of free throws with 41 seconds left the St. John the Baptist senior got a second chance thanks to the Cougars' stout defensive play. With 11 seconds to go Thompson brought the ball up court and was midway through a spin move at the top of the lane when she lost her footing as well as the basketball.

"I don't know what it was," Thompson said, pausing to hold back emotion. "We needed that."

Christ the King hit a pair of free throws and a three-quarter-court shot at the buzzer by St. John the Baptist was well short as the Cougars fell, 55-52, in a state CHSAA Class AA girls basketball semifinal Saturday at St. Dominic. Alexis Smith had 13 points and Thompson added 11 for SJB.

The Cougars had a 48-43 lead when Smith fouled out while trying to get back and help on what SJB coach Ted Oberg called a "blown assignment" on defense with 5:59 left.

"Losing her at the point hurt us," Oberg said of Smith. "She had to come back and help. It shouldn't have been but those are the mental mistakes that teams make that cost you games and that was a big one."

Added Smith, "I went for the steal and I should've listened to that voice [in my head] because it risked me and I fouled out. I felt horrible, like I had let my team down but I had to get in my head that my team could do this. I couldn't do anything from the bench but it's not about me it's about my team."

The Royals went on a 12-4 run with Smith out of the game including a pair of three-pointers by Sierra Calhoun in the final minute and a half to give the Royals a 53-52 lead.

Calhoun had 16 points and Bria Smith, from Massapequa, had 11 points for Christ the King. Smith, a University of Virginia recruit, fouled out with 2:11 left. She was named the state's Miss Basketball on Friday.

"With Bria fouling out they could've folded up the tent, we could've gone home and they didn't so that was great teamwork," Christ the King coach Bob Mackey said.

Christ the King will play Nazareth in the state CHSAA final today. Nazareth, ranked No. 12 nationally by USA Today, survived a 46-44 scare from St. Anthony's in the other semifinal.

The season ends for SJB (20-7) and Oberg expressed pride in his players as well as disappointment in what could have been.

"We had it. We had them on the ropes a number of times and I think they knew it," Oberg said. "It would have been nice to win. I think we could've beat Nazareth because I don't think they would've handled our traps but I guess we won't get to see that."