The holidays are all about traditions, and there’s nothing more traditional in the local boys’ high school hoops scene than the annual Msgr. King Memorial Basketball Tournament. The 54th annual tournament returned to the iconic green floor at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Flatlands, from Dec. 26-30.
This was the second year Brian Shea, the parish’s sports association director, ran the festivities after having taken over for longtime tournament director Guy DeFonzo. The eight-team field included local diocesan CHSAA participant St. Edmund Prep H.S., Sheepshead Bay. The Eagles were joined by Ralph R. McKee Career and Technical Education H.S., Staten Island; Bedford Academy, Bedford-Stuyvesant; Wagner H.S., Staten Island; South Bronx Prep, the Bronx; Moore Catholic H.S., Staten Island; Holy Trinity H.S., Hicksville, L.I.; and Hughes STEM H.S., which traveled from Cincinnati.
It was a worthwhile trip for Hughes, as the team defeated Wagner for the tournament championship crown. The connection here is that Hughes’ assistant coach, Eric Stirling, a Brooklyn native, played in the tournament in 1999 with LaSalle Academy, Manhattan, on a team that won it all. Hughes has already been invited back to defend their title at next year’s tournament. In his second year at the helm, Shea relied on his experience from last year to ensure an even smoother operation. As a full-time teacher, high school varsity boys’ basketball coach, and Amateur Athletic Union coach, he knew he had to get started early to finish everything in time.
“I was more prepared to get everything done earlier,” said Shea, who played Catholic Youth Organization basketball at St. Thomas before heading to St. Edmund Prep, where he played in the tournament. “I got the gym ready earlier. I was calmer coming into this year as opposed to last year.”
Shea added some of his own flavor to this year’s tournament. Throughout the gym, he created photo displays celebrating the rich history of the tournament. He also included information on all the previous champions and award winners in the tournament programs. Just like in basketball, executing a massive undertaking like the King Tournament takes a team effort and Shea was grateful for the countless volunteers who offered a helping hand. That includes the high school team he coaches, Adams Street Academy, as well as the school’s girls’ team. These student-athletes attend the Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice on Adams Street near the Brooklyn Bridge.
As a surprise this year, Shea named a new award after DeFonzo. The Guy DeFonzo Clutch Award went to Elijah Engelman of tournament champion Hughes H.S. From its beginnings in 1962, the Msgr. King
Tournament — which uniquely pits Public School Athletic League teams against CHSAA teams — 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 to be played 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 December 2014 under the direction of DeFonzo and the late Msgr. John Brown, the parish’s pastor. Originally slated to be part of a five-year plan, the tournament was revived a few years earlier than anticipated.
Shea has already set his sights on next year’s tournament — the 55th annual. A team from Wisconsin has committed, adding to the national feel of the tournament. Shea is also reaching out to some of the local CHSAA programs that used to be fixtures in the tournament to see if they’d like to return.
Next year, Shea also plans to bring back a four-team girls’ high school tournament as part of the King Tournament. It’s truly been a full-circle moment for him in taking over the head responsibilities.
“I grew up in this gym,” he said. “I fell in love with basketball in this gym. I watched so many great players in this tournament. I did all these jobs, from scorekeeper, book, shot clock, table boy, towel boy…I did it all. To be the one who is running things now is still surreal.”
Next up in the St. Thomas Aquinas gymnasium will be the fifth annual Noreen A. Shea Memorial Classic, presented by the Noreen A. Shea Memorial Foundation, established in honor of Shea’s late mother. The classic takes place on Martin Luther King weekend. Year after year, the return of the King tournament cements the tradition of the St. Thomas Aquinas gym being known as the “Madison Square Garden” of local youth basketball. With its holiday feel and early-season playoff atmosphere, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
