Jefferson Plucks Wings; Advances to PSAL Chip
JAMAICA, NY - The game wasn’t decided until basically the last minute. It was a tough battle, a PSAL “AA” semifinal matchup between Jefferson and Wings, with both teams having players who made big shots down the stretch.
Early in the fourth quarter, Shamorie Ponds broke a 58 all tie with a right corner pocket three. It gave Jefferson just enough daylight to finish in first place. Jefferson eventually won the race, or more accurately the game, 74-65. The victory earned Jefferson the right to go to Madison Square Garden and play for the city championship.
After Wings junior Jose Perez (13 points) made a floater to answer Ponds three, Ponds went inside and scored on a floater a few possessions later. Ponds scored a game high 23 points for the Orange. Ponds didn’t shoot well for most of the game, but that didn’t stop him from making some of the most important field goals in the game.
Fellow guard Rasheem Dunn almost finished with the high score, but missed it by a single point. Dunn finished with 22 points and was intense for the entire 32 minutes. Dunn snapped back from a poor game in the quarterfinal game against Curtis.
“Rasheem Dunn really stepped up today. He didn’t play so well in the quarters: Jefferson Head Coach Lawrence "Bud" Pollard said. “You know, I said Rah shake it off because his comeback game is always a killer game, and he was a killer today”
It was a whistle fest for much of the second half, so Wings could never gain any real momentum. They were average in making their free throws and they could never overcome the slight lead the Jefferson enjoyed.
Jefferson will go back to the Garden, and according to Pollard, this will be the fourth time in five seasons that they will be playing in the last game. However, the last time Jefferson was in a championship game in 2014, the game was played at Barclays Center. This time, they will be playing in Madison Square Garden, so it will be a first for some of the kids that did play in the last final.
Ponds, who signed a letter of intent to play for St. John’s, played in Carnesecca Arena which may have been his first time. Carnesecca will be Ponds home gym when he plays for St. John’s next season. Ponds also played in front of some of his future teammates, who were sitting courtside for the entire game.
Next up for Ponds and his teammates is the MSG floor, and it will be another chance for Ponds to step onto the floor that he will call home next season, at least for a few games. However, the task at hand is Lincoln and it will be the fourth time this season they play the Railsplitters. The last two games have been disasters for the Orange Wave. Ponds was asked how he felt getting a chance to play for the chip again.
“I’m excited – I just want to win it so bad.” Ponds said after the game.X He was also asked if the team that stunk up the place in the boroughs was going to be the team that showed up to Madison Square Garden next week.
“No. Not at all.” Ponds said. X He was asked if that was a prediction, but Ponds was even more confident when he answered the question.
“Yeah…that’s a fact.”
Curtis Smith finished with 16 points for Jefferson. Junior guard Boubacar Kamissoko tied for his team’s high scorer with 19 points. Senior guard Kevin Saylor matched Kamissoko’s output.
