CONEY ISLAND, NY - The top of the standings of one of the toughest divisions in the city is traditionally a two-school race, and that theme remained in the 2017-18 season — this time going down to the buzzer.

Literally.

NYCHoops.net's #4 ranked Thomas Jefferson traveled from East New York to meet #3 ranked Abraham Lincoln in Coney Island as the two Brooklyn powerhouses battled to the wire for supremacy in the Brooklyn AA on Tuesday. The showdown was a tale of two halves for both teams, each taking turns dominating each other, but by the end the visiting Orange Wave (11-3) secured the 61-59 victory over the Railsplitters (10-4).

After blitzing the home team from tip off, jumping out to a double-digit lead minutes into the first quarter, Jefferson eventually found itself playing catch up. Their offense became stagnant in the fourth quarter, allowing Lincoln to take a brief lead, until their final offensive set.

Tied at 59 in the closing minute, Jefferson dialed up a play that saw four different players touch the ball with a sharp back-door cut and unselfish dish in the land that netted an easy lay in for Stephen Moncrieffe, who scored all 8 of his points in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by two, Lincoln had two chances to draw even in the final 10 seconds. A running floater by John Wilson hit the iron, however Jefferson missed a pair of free throws and Lincoln quickly had the ball back at mid-court with two seconds but an alley oop attempt was disrupted to end the back and forth contest.

Leading the way for Jefferson was long-range marksman Kareem Welch, whose 12 first-quarter points doubled Lincoln’s entire team, and freshman standout Jaquan Carlos, both finishing with 21 points in the victory.

Lincoln fell behind by as many as 21 deep into the second quarter before sparking a short run keyed by a few 3’s from Brian Stevens to head into halftime down 37-21. That carried over in the second half as their defense intensified, causing a lot more turnovers and more hot shooting by Stevens and company to come within 5 late in the third quarter.

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#8 Boys & Girls ends #7 Brooklyn Collegiate's 9 game winning steak, 75 - 58

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