Jefferson Tops St. Pats @ McRae

The Conrad McRae Youth League was in full swing over the week end as player from the same high school played together and against each other. On Saturday, the players from Thomas Jefferson Campus (Brooklyn, NY) faced off against players from St. Patrick (NJ). In a nail biter, it came down to a buzzer beater by rising junior Brandon Andrews to give Jefferson a 63-61 win.

With a solid first half by Jermoine Faison, Jefferson would lead at the half, 27-24. St. Pat's remained in the hunt as sharpshooter Jarred Nickens dropped three of his six three-balls with rising senior PG DaShawn Suber at the helm.

Jefferson led throughout most of the game but with 4:23 left in the game, St. Patrick tied the game at 51 apiece.

Daniel Knight would finally put St. Patrick, the heavy favorite, on top and with 2:45 remaining. Jefferson was resilient and Jaylen Evans put them back on top by 2 points at the two minute mark.

Time was winding down and with 20 seconds left in regulation, Jefferson was holding onto what appeared to be a comfortable 60-54 advantage. Poor free-throw shooting would quickly erase that fantasy and buckets by Kamal Champagne would tie the game at 61 with a few ticks left.

In what appeared to be a guaranteed overtime, a jump shot by Andrews as time expired would seal the win for the Brooklyn public school.

Faison led Jefferson with 17 points Evan adding 14 points and Jaquan Lynch, 13 points. Deondre Bembry scored a game high 21 points followed by Nickens, who finished with 18 points.