Jefferson Stomps Vikings; Aims for Lincoln

CANARSIE, NY - Saturday's game had no bearing on the PSAL seeding as #3 seed South Shore Vikings hosted #2 seed Thomas Jefferson. The resounding 74-50 victory by the Orange Wave was apparently more of a prediction of things to come.

"Next time we see Lincoln, we're gonna knock them off," Jefferson Head coach Lawrence "Bud" Pollard prognosticated confidently. "You can quote me on that."

Pollard launched the bold salvo at the number one seeded Railsplitters from Coney Island, NY even before the game against the Vikings was officially over. Abraham Lincoln beat Jefferson during their only meeting, earlier in the season.

South Shore led from the onset, benefiting mostly from home court advantage. Senior guard Doudmy Saint Hilaire (7 points) helped maintain a six point advantage for the Vikings throughout most of the warm-up quarter. Home court advantage slowly wore off as Patrick Brown (18 points) would facilitate a Jefferson run to narrow the gap to 14-11, ending the first quarter.

Sophomore phenom Shamorie Ponds (21 points) tied the game at 19 midway through the second quarter as the Orange Wave gained momentum. With 2:17 Ponds gave Jefferson their first lead and Daquise Andrews (14 points) extended that lead with 1:20 left in the half.

Poor free-throw shooting hindered South Shore competitiveness and Ponds made them pay from the perimeter with 14 first half points.

Leading 27-22 as the third stanza began, the Orange Wave continued to crash down on a sluggish Vikings squad, pushing their lead to double digits. South Shore Head Coach Mike Beckles called a timeout with 5:18 to reorganize his troops after they fell down 38-26.

Frustration set in for the Vikings as they shot themselves in the foot by receiving an unsportsmanlike tech that gave Jefferson an almost free-pass to increase their lead. With a 1:32, the Vikings had put themselves in a 20 point hole.

South Shore came out strong in the fourth quarter as Devyn Wilson (16 points) scored coast to coast. Defensively, however, the Vikings were porous and as a result, their offensive bursts were easily matched by Jefferson. No Viking other than Wilson even scored double-digits making a sustained attack highly unlikely.

On life support and still down by 20 with 5:06 left to play, Brown put the game completely out of reach with a dagger that upped the point spread to 62-39 in favor of the Wave. As the clock wound down, it became playtime for the Thomas Jefferson Campus as both teams pulled the plug and subbed out.

The Brooklyn borough playoffs begin on Tuesday for the PSAL with #7 seed Lafayette standing in Thomas Jefferson's way. South Shore will go up against #6 seeded Bedford Academy. If all goes according to Coach Pollard's plan, Jefferson may face Abraham Lincoln on Thursday.