Could Jefferson Run Script on Xaverian
The Thomas Jefferson Orange Wave typically handle games against quality opponents like this: Get behind early, junior guard Jaquan "Son Son" Lynch gets hot, senior guard Thaddeus Hall wakes up in the second half, and the rest of the team somehow pulls together an effort that enables them to crawl out of a double digit hole for a win.
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It's worked all season long, but could the Orange Wave follow their script against a feisty opponent in the Xaverian Clippers?
Yes. To the hilt. Jefferson climbed out of a ten point hole and a reversed a sloppy start to emerge with a 73-64 win in the Rucker Invitational at Wadleigh High School. And these games have a tendency to irk Jefferson Head Coach, Lawrence "Bud" Pollard, sometimes.
"I tell these guys about falling behind early and having to come back," he said. "I guess they like the excitement."
The excitement wasn't there for Jefferson early on, though. Although they exploited Xaverian's deficiencies in the front court by grabbing the lion's share of the boards, their offense was cold. Hall came out firing, but couldn't hit. Lynch saw limited first quarter action and the Clippers' zone kept the Orange Wave guessing from the perimeter.
Meanwhile, Xaverian gained momentum behind the ESP between Grade 'A' point guard, Dillon Burns, and wing, George Lambert (14 points) and the shooting prowess of marksman Brian Bernardi. A Bernardi drive put Xaverian up, 25-15, and between the Clippers' defense forcing Jefferson into ill advised jumpers and Burns running their offense with fluidity, Xaverian was a well-oiled machine. But ah, yes, the second quarter wouldn't be the second quarter if Lynch didn't warm up and get Jefferson rolling. He nailed a trey to clip the Clippers' lead to five, then Nazai Stokes (12 points) followed to make it a 27-25 game.
That was Hall's cue to start hitting some shots, so he sunk one with 45 seconds left in the half to make it a 32-31 game.
Bernardi, Burns and Lambert single-handedly kept the Orange Wave at bay for much of the third quarter, but Jefferson finally tied the game at 40 on an Ed Ogundeko free throw. Always the antagonist, Lynch (16 points) went on a tear that ignited a 12-0 run that put Jefferson up for good; and it was only natural for Hall (22 points) to follow Lynch's lead in true Batman and Robin fashion. Another three from Stokes helped drag the O-Wave to safety.
"Yeah, we always do that," said Lynch of Jefferson playing catch-up against tougher opponents. "But when we get in the playoffs, we need to try to be up 10 to 15 points early."
Regardless, Xaverian had no rebuttal on the scoreboard. Burns exploited the bonus and nailed an impressive 10-10 from the free throw line, 8 of which came in the fourth quarter. He would finish with 14 points and 5 assists, while Bernardi's 23 points led all scorers. But Jefferson pulled it off again with the hopes of putting teams away early come playoff time.
"These games are fun to watch, but hard to coach," Pollard said. "You just hope it doesn't come back to bite you in the playoffs."