The Orange Wave of Thomas Jefferson High School kept the ball out of the hands of Abraham Lincoln HS superstar Lance Stephenson for three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, Stephenson wanted to ball in his hands. "I was just laying back and letting my teammates play but I knew in the fourth quarter they (Jefferson) would come out stronger than they did in the first half," said Stephenson. "I had to get the ball so that they could calm down and get my players open."

Stephenson did exactly that and did not have to carry the scoring load in an 87 to 81 Railsplitters victory on Thursday. In an early season match-up of the final two unbeaten teams in the Brooklyn AA division; two unknown players stepped up in a major way for Lincoln. Junior guard Raymond Oloughlin and senior guard Anthony Allen combined to score 43 points in the home victory. "I am happy for them," Lincoln head coach Dwayne Morton said of the play of his two guards. "But it's too early for people to know about them. Those were my secrets; I didn't know they would shine so early."

Now everyone knows about Coach Morton's "secret" weapons. The two guards took the pressure off Stephenson who entered the game leading the Brooklyn AA in scoring, averaging over 34 points per game. In the win against Jefferson, Stephenson only needed 20 points.

In the first half, the Orange Wave frustrated Stephenson; double-teaming him nearly every time he touched the ball and sometimes used a box and one defense to attempt to disrupt the senior star. "I was never frustrated," Stephenson stated. "I just played the game, got my teammates involved and we won the game. "Jefferson's defensive game plan at least worked for the first half as they held Stephenson to a mere seven points.

The Railsplitters led for the majority of the first half as they consistently dominated the Orange Wave on the boards and capitalized on second chance opportunities. Lincoln also did an excellent job defensively on Orange Wave junior power forward and leading scorer Joel Wright. Wright was held to just four points in the first half as Jefferson trailed by five at the break.

In the third quarter, Lincoln would lead by as many as seven points. However, every time the Railsplitters pulled away the Orange Wave would come right back. Lincoln would actually outscore Jefferson by a point in the quarter and led by six heading into the fourth. In the fourth quarter, Coach Morton put the ball in Stephenson's hands and let his 6-foot-6 senior run the point guard duties. "That helped us a lot," said Lincoln senior guard Darwin "Buddha" Ellis. "He is a bigger than everyone on the court and when they trap him he can see over the defense." Stephenson and his teammates easily broke Jefferson's half court trap in the fourth quarter. Stephenson's ability to pass out of the double team, created opportunities for Oloughlin and Allen to knock down open jump shots. "I am happy for those kids and Lance because now Lance has faith in two more guys," said Morton.

After the Orange Wave had cut the deficit to six points in the fourth quarter, Lincoln's guards came up big on the defensive end. Allen stripped sophomore guard Davontay Grace with a minute and a half to go in the contest and found Stephenson all alone on the right side of the court. Stephenson calmly drained a three pointer and let out howl to the Railsplitters home crowd. "I just shoot, man," Stephenson told NYChoops.net. "If it goes in then it goes in. I knew I was going to get the rebound anyways." There was no need for a rebound as Stephenson's shot with 1:22 to go appeared to be the dagger for the Orange Wave. However, the game was far from over.

Jefferson would go on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to two. After a technical foul on James Padgett, Wright hit one of two free throws to make the score 81 to 79 still in favor of Lincoln with forty seconds left to play. On the next possession, with a chance to tie, Wright missed a lay-up and then lost the ball out of bounds. Following the turnover, the Railsplitters would get free throws from Oloughlin and Allen West, Jr. to seal the victory.

Jefferson's star guard Keith Spellman played well but fouled out with 4:45 remaining in the game, scoring 19 points

While the victory is huge for the defending PSAL champion Railsplitters, the team seems even more proud of the way their role players stepped up. "I think it is a good idea (to have the ball in Lance's hands), said Ellis. "Everybody is worrying about Lance but nobody knows what the whole team can do." Although Ellis, Padgett, and Stephenson are the only returning players from last year's championship team, everyone knows the NYC Hoops #1 ranked Lincoln (5-0) is capable of winning again.

For Lincoln, Anthony Allen led all scores with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Stephenson's stats were impressive as well. In addition to scoring 20 points, Stephenson also notched 5 assists and 7 rebounds. Oloughlin also contributed 18 points as Lincoln had a balanced attack.

Marcus Romain, a 6-foot-2 junior, and Wright led Jefferson, each scoring 21 points with Wright also adding 12 rebounds.

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