Jefferson Gets Over The Hump; Destroys Lincoln To Win PSAL Chip
NEW YORK, NY - There’s a lot of stuff going on with those two teams. There are coaching changes, mind games, rivalries – a lot of interesting things. But there was also a championship game to be played on Saturday afternoon. It was winner-take-all on the Madison Square Garden floor.
Rasheem Dunn ‘16 and his teammates were ready. They were focused from the very beginning, and that carried all the way through to the end. Jefferson’s focus and intensity paid off tremendously. Jefferson went on a game blowing 18-1 run to start the third quarter and basically put a headlock on the game.
Dunn scored 23 points for the Orange Wave, while his teammate Shamorie Ponds ‘16 led all scorers with 31. Those two outstanding performances sparked a runaway 90-61 victory over Lincoln. Ponds and Dunn were named co-MVP’s for the game. The win gave Jefferson the 2016 PSAL championship and ended years of disappointing finishes.
Jefferson head coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard was asked what he thought about his two senior guards.
“They practiced like champions all week. They rallied the guys and they executed” Pollard said. “Rasheem was going to have to step up and put his foot on the gas. He started the game, and Shamorie finished, together those two guys closed out. It’s so fitting – those guys went to school together since first grade, never been apart”
It started early when Ponds found Dunn on the right wing in front of the Lincoln bench. Dunn drained a three and immediately turned around and yelled at the Lincoln bench. The basket made it 5-0 and served notice that Dunn was “locked and loaded” for the contest. He was asked after the game what he said to the bench. Dunn smiled sheepishly.
“I said – what”
Pollard explained further. He said that for whatever reason, Lincoln’s strategy on guarding Dunn was to leave him open. So Dunn explained in his own way that he shouldn’t be left open because he was going to knock it down. He did, and it set the tone.
Another outstanding player who set the tone for Jefferson was junior forward Malachi Faison ‘17. He’s undersized, but he plays the frontcourt like a maniac, at least for the championship game. Faison was all over the boards, giving his team a dominate presence in the paint that wasn’t matched by Lincoln at all. He had a couple of tip put-backs in the first half that were nothing but sheer effort plays. Faison finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Despite Jefferson having the edge in intensity, the game was close at halftime. Jefferson held a 30-25 lead over Lincoln. Neither team could really put the ball through the hoop in the first half, but it just felt like Jefferson was more comfortable playing on the Garden floor.
Lincoln constantly turned the ball over in the opening half and it might’ve been a case of not being ready for prime time. The lights were on and it was a decent crowd in the arena, and some the Lincoln players weren’t playing to their capabilities. The one exception may have been senior Cahiem Brown ‘16, who finished with a team high 21 points.
Lincoln coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton spoke after the game.
“They kind of wanted this one a little more than our guys, especially on the rebounding and defensive side, so I applaud [Jefferson]” Morton said.
The third quarter was the when the Orange Wave hit Lincoln with the sledgehammer. Dunn opened the scoring with a jumper, and Ponds followed that up with another jumper. After Ponds stole the ball, he found fellow senior guard Curtis Smith ‘16 open on the wing. Smith (16 points) drained the three and forced Lincoln to call a timeout. There was no stopping Jefferson.
The Orange Wave went on an 18-1 run to build a 22-point lead, and it only took 3 minutes to do it. The score was 48-26 with 5 minutes left in the third period. After the huge run to open the second half, Lincoln never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
Ponds had 5 points in the first half. He wasn’t scoring, but he was showing off all facets of his game. He was doing whatever needed to be done at the moment. But he finally got his game going in the second half when he got a little daylight and started to fill up the point’s column.
Ponds scored 26 points in the second half. He is one of those kids that just knows how to play. He does whatever is necessary to get the win, sort of in the mode of past Brooklyn high school guards Lance Stephenson and Isaiah Whitehead. Ponds finished with 12 rebounds and 5 assists. He also had 6 steals, a couple where he just reached out and snatched the ball effortlessly.
When Ponds and Dunn were named Co-MVPs. Dunn was asked how it felt.
“It feels very great” Dunn said. “We put time, effort, [and] dedication and just wanted to get this win. We wanted to get this win and make history”
Ponds also added how he felt about the journey to get to the championship.
“We said we was going to get one at the beginning of the year. We got it”.
