Farsighted Jefferson Trips Over Vikings
BROOKLYN, NY – The #7 NYCHoops.net ranked Thomas Jefferson Orange Wave needed an appointment with Lens Crafters on Thursday evening. The top flight PSAL squad with D-I talent was blindsided by a motivated South Shore Vikings team, only to trip over and lose to them, 77-74.
A livid Jefferson head coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard said after the game, “All week, all these guys were talking about was Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincoln. I told them, we have South Shore on Thursday. This was a set up game right here.”
The Orange Wave has a match against the Abraham Lincoln Railsplitters on Saturday and Pollard felt that his team had blurred vision against the Vikings. “[South Shore’s] at the bottom of the [PSAL] league this year but they don’t understand that South Shore played us tough last year. They’re losing one point games. This is a good team.”
The Orange Wave has a match against the Abraham Lincoln Railsplitters on Saturday and Pollard felt that his team totally bypassed the Vikings mentally. “[South Shore’s] at the bottom of the [PSAL] league this year but they don’t understand that South Shore played us tough last year. They’re losing one point games. This is a good team.”
For South Shore, it was a perfect storm of having the chip on their shoulder of not being ranked while also overcoming adversity. First off, they were playing without their head coach Mike Beckles who was under the weather due to Asthma. Secondly, the team was playing for a former teammate who’s now on life support according to assistant coach Shawn “Smoke” Mark. “They played for Shamir Glover. He had to leave the school due to Leukemia.”
With their hometown Canarsie crowd in full vocal support, the Vikings came out with a vengeance in the first quarter. Shaquille Ricks ‘16 (32 points) was in overdrive from the tip off and put South Shore up early but Jefferson looked to be weathering the storm. Buckets by Shamorie Ponds ’16 (24 points) and Curtis Smith ‘16 (16 points) would put the Orange Wave out front by 7 points to end the warm up quarter.
Ricks raised the stakes in the second quarter with help from Jalen Blaize ’17 (8 points) and with four minutes left in the half, the Vikings had moved back in front by a point. Rasheem Dunn ’16 (8 points) drew a foul on a drive but only went 1 of two from the charity stripe which was enough to knot the game at 29.
The final minutes of the half were fast and furious as both teams exchanged baskets. When the smoke cleared, Jefferson took a slight 35-33 advantage into the locker room at the half.
In the third quarter, South Shore made multiple pushes to regain the lead but each time, Ponds would bail Jefferson out with clutch long balls. Leading by 5 points, the Orange Wave took the live by the jay die by the jay philosophy into the final quarter and began to have heart failure.
Early in the quarter, a Ponds trifecta put Jefferson up by eight but after that, suddenly the bottom fell out for the Orange Wave. Sucked into jawing with their opponents and the taunts of the crowd, Jefferson took their eye off the prize. Missed buckets and turnovers replaced clutch shots and fastbreak points.
With under two minutes left to play, Ricks knotted the game at 72. With Nick Simeon ‘17 (6 points) now stuck to Ponds defensively like white on rice, Earnest Abdul-Mateen ‘16 (16 points) would drive to the lane, draw a foul and finally give the Vikings a chance at the lead with 56.7 seconds left to play. But that’s when the scoreboard went dark. Conspiracy? Not likely since it was the Vikings gym.
Incapacitated for at least five minutes, the delay could’ve been a momentum buster for the Vikings. Mateen hits the first free throw but the scoreboard shorts out once again. The senior showed the ice water in his veins, finishing 2 for 2 as play resumed.
Yaradyah Evans ’16 (13 points) stepped it up in the fourth quarter and late in the game, the Vikings were now in the driver’s seat ahead by a deuce. Ponds gets fouled attempting a three-pointer but the St. John’s commit misses two of three free-throws. South Shore then scores and increased its lead to three points with 5.7 seconds left in regulation. Jefferson would be unable to close the gap in time.
"You can’t have three senior guards have twenty turnovers,” said Coach Pollard. “That’s the ball game right there. Not counting the lay-ups we missed today. That’s concentration and focus. No turnovers for nobody else on the team.” Pollard was particularly perturbed because he said that the Vikings didn’t really pressure the ball in his opinion.
Coach Mark spoke about the Vikings overall strategy, saying, “[Jefferson was] gonna earn their cookies.” Mark was impressed with his team’s performance, particularly with that of Ricks. “This is one of the best teams we’ve had. [Ricks] has come a long way on and off the court. He told me outright he was gonna play hard today and he did.”
South Shore's overall record improves to 8-7 while Thomas Jefferson falls to 10-7, losing its last five games.
