Late December is known as the season of giving, and once again, the local basketball community was happy to receive its annual holiday hoops gift. St. Thomas Aquinas, Flatlands, hosted the 55th annual Msgr. King Memorial Basketball Tournament from Dec. 27-30. The holiday tradition has continued under Brian Shea, who served as tournament director for the second time.
The iconic green floor in the St. Thomas gymnasium was packed with action as eight boys’ varsity teams — six of which were Catholic high schools — from the region competed for a championship title. This year’s field included St. Edmund Prep H.S., Sheepshead Bay; Cristo Rey Brooklyn H.S., Flatbush; St. John’s Prep, Astoria; Holy Trinity H.S., Hicksville, L.I.; Kennedy Catholic H.S., Somers, N.Y.; Hackley School, Tarrytown, N.Y.; Bedford Academy, Bedford-Stuyvesant; and St. Rose H.S., Belmar, N.J.
The St. Edmund’s Eagles battled hard to reach the final game in an attempt to bring the championship back to Brooklyn, but it was Holy Trinity that emerged victorious for the tournament title.
Heading into this year’s tournament, Shea was more prepared than ever. Having basically grown up in that gymnasium, he was a regular volunteer at King Tournaments and was the right-hand man to longtime tournament director Guy DeFonzo.
“I think that always having been involved with the day-to-day of the tournament, I had a pretty good idea of what I needed to do,” said Shea, who played Catholic Youth Organization basketball at St. Thomas before heading to St. Edmund Prep, where he played in the tournament. “Going into this year, I started things earlier. I made sure I didn’t leave boxes unchecked to the point where I would be scrambling on the back end.”
From its beginnings in 1962, the Msgr. King Tournament has featured top boys’ varsity high school teams in New York City and beyond. The tournament is named after former St. Thomas Aquinas pastor Msgr. Jeremiah King, who in 1954 oversaw a fundraising campaign to help construct three new parish buildings, one of which was the basketball gymnasium.
When it was founded, the tournament was the first high school basketball tournament held at a grammar school gymnasium in the country. Since then, the legend has grown, with the likes of former NBA stars Chris Mullin and Metta Sandiford-Artest taking to the gym’s floor.
After a 10-year hiatus, the tournament triumphantly returned in 2014 under the direction of DeFonzo and the late Msgr. John Brown, St. Thomas Aquinas’ pastor. Originally slated to be part of a five-year plan, the tournament was revived a few years earlier than anticipated.
A snowstorm postponed the first night of hoops action this year, but other than that, things went off without a hitch. That’s thanks to Shea’s dedication — so much dedication, in fact, that he was in the gym setting things up for the tournament on Christmas Day itself.
Each year, Shea tries to add something new to the mix. This year, the winning team received special bag tags for their school backpacks listing out all the tournament participants. Also, this year’s T-shirts paid tribute to lifelong St. Thomas parishioner, usher, and lector Joe Pasqua, who died a few weeks before the tournament.
While Shea was steering the ship, the assistance of dozens of volunteers ensured the tournament’s smooth sailing. The boys’ and girls’ basketball teams from Adams Street Academy, where Shea coaches the boys, and the school’s volleyball players pitched in to lend a hand.
Though there was plenty of running around throughout the four-day event, Shea finally got a chance to soak it all in during the championship. He sat on stage with one of his former players and just enjoyed the game, the atmosphere, and the meaningfulness of this annual tradition.
“At the end of the day, the magic is on the court and in the feel of the gym,” Shea said. “The schools that had never been there before were so thankful for the family-type atmosphere in the gym. That’s what makes the tournament special.
“Since the day I took over, it’s a role I’ve taken very seriously. It will never escape me what this gym means to me. People come every year. A lot of the King Tournament is for the parish community and New York City basketball in general.”
Next up in the St. Thomas Aquinas gymnasium will be the sixth annual Noreen A. Shea Memorial Classic presented by the Noreen A. Shea Memorial Foundation, which was established in honor of Shea’s late mother. The classic takes place on Martin Luther King weekend.
St. Thomas is also starting up its in-house basketball league, “Dumb Ox” Hoops, in February for boys and girls in grades 3-12.
Year after year, the King Tournament’s return cements the St. Thomas Aquinas gym’s tradition as the “Madison Square Garden” of local youth basketball. If December is the season of giving, then the tournament — with its nostalgic feel, unique setup, and competitive basketball action — can easily be considered the gift that keeps on giving.