A team that trains together wins together.
Bishop Loughlin girls’ basketball coach Chez Williams used an unconventional approach to team-building during his squad’s 69–56 road win over Christ the King on Feb. 13 — he had players ride the train together to their host’s Queens campus.
“I think, being together like that, it helps,” Williams said. “That’s the only thing I’m superstitious about … coming to games together — I believe you play better.”
The hocus pocus paid off — Loughlin rolled to an easy win over the parochial powerhouse, securing second place in Brooklyn-Queens and a first-round bye into the diocesan semifinals.
“Beating them today was wonderful,” said senior guard Ellease “Toucan” Billings. “It just sets the tone for us going into the playoffs.”
Four of five Loughlin starters scored in the double-figures against Christ the King, with Billings leading the way with 16 points. Junior guard Lynette Taitt had 15, freshman guard Laysha de la Santos added 14, and Reid — Loughlin’s leading scorer — had 12. The balance was exactly what Williams was looking for.
“I said before the game, ‘It’s not important that one girl has a good game — it’s important that all of you have a good game,’ ” he said.
Overall, Loughlin controlled the game’s tempo. The Lions faced an obvious height disadvantage, which Christ the King tried to exploit with St. Peter’s-bound center Ashlie Howell, but the Lions used stingy defense and speedy guards to create turnovers and, in turn, transition baskets.
“They know we’re a very small team,” Billings said. “But we kept the composure. We kept boxing out, getting rebounds.”
Loughlin took a 14–10 lead after the first quarter, and every time Christ The King looked made a run, the Lions responded with a spurt of their own. Christ the King tied the score at 15–15 midway through the second quarter, but Taitt went on a six-point run, setting the momentum that Loughlin rode to a 34–25 lead at halftime.
The Royals managed to cut the deficit down to just six in the third quarter, but the Lions responded with a 10–2 run over the third and fourth quarters to grab a comfortable 52–38 lead. Christ the King didn’t get closer than 10 in the fourth.
The Royals, who were playing their fourth game in five nights, got only 19 combined points from its Division I-bound senior guards Sydney Zambrotta, Kaela Kinder, and Dominique Toussaint, who will head to Louisville, Virginia Tech, and Virginia respectively next season.
Loughlin is 1–1 in games where the squad rode the train together, but Williams is confident the transit gambit will help them as they approach the playoffs, he said.
“Whatever works,” Williams said with a laugh. “If it’s taking a train, taking a bus, whatever works.”
