Thomas Jefferson Cracks Lincoln
BROOKLYN, NY - There was a lot of anticipation for this one. People saw the schedule and circled the calendar for this one. Before the season began, maybe these were the top two basketball teams in Brooklyn, maybe the entire PSAL.
Abraham Lincoln vs. Thomas Jefferson. It was back and forth most of the game. Jefferson was able to make a comeback late in the fourth quarter, helped by two 31 point efforts from both Shamorie Ponds and Rasheem Dunn. Jefferson was able to overcome a 9 point deficit in the last quarter to win 96-93.
The game was a battle between two teams that wanted to desperately win the game. It is a big rivalry, but there were a couple of side stories coming into the game. Lincoln coach Tiny Morton didn’t coach at Lincoln last season, but returned to the school this year. Kenny Pretlow coached last year’s Lincoln team, but ended up on the Jefferson bench this season.
Lincoln took a 78-69 lead with about 5 minutes left in the game after Lincoln sophomore guard Donald Canon-Flores found Cahiem Brown for a lay-up. Later in the period, Lincoln still held an 83-76 lead when Ponds and the Orange Wave made their last push.
Ponds made a three while being guarded tightly by Canon-Flores. After a travel by Lincoln, Dunn scored on a lay-up while getting fouled. He made the old fashioned three-point play to cut Lincoln’s lead to 83-82.
Lincoln high scorer Rakim Felder found Brown (20 points) for a lay-up to put Lincoln up by three points. Jefferson answered when senior guard Curtis Smith made his 2nd three of the game to tie it at 85. They took their first lead of the game after Ponds was able to get Felder to foul him at the top of the key. He was behind the arc and received 3 free throws. Ponds is excellent from the line, and he made all three of charity shots that he was awarded.
Jefferson fell behind again after Lincoln made another three to go ahead 90-88, Smith made his third triple of the half from the right corner pocket. The shot put Jefferson ahead and that was the way it stayed until the end.
However the Orange Wave weren’t out of the woods yet despite pushing their lead to 95-90 with 0:28 seconds left in the game. It was a frantic last few possessions. Felder, who scored 25 points for the Railsplitters, was wide open behind the three point line. He took the open look twice and missed both shots. But the third time was the charm. Felder finally made the three and was fouled in the process. He missed the free throw to make the four point play, but Lincoln secured the offensive rebound.
After a time out and down 96-93, Lincoln had possession and was attempting to inbound the ball. Lincoln never got the shot up in the air because Ponds stole the inbounds pass. Ponds said he read the eyes of the kid who was inbounding the ball. He picked the ball out of the air like a defensive back.
Jefferson was coming off a disappointing loss to South Shore this past Thursday. It happened to be their 5th loss in a row for Jefferson, after they went into the Holiday break undefeated. What a way to get back on track.
As for as the side story, it was curious to see how Morton and Pretlow would handle being in the same gym after being rumored to not even be speaking to each other. When it came to for both coaches to cross paths in the postgame handshake line, what would happen?
Nothing interesting happened. Both coaches shook hands, spoke briefly, and kept it moving. Anticlimactic if nothing else.
As for the game, it was anything but anti-climactic. It was a typical Brooklyn AA war, just the first game of the year between the two rivals. Jefferson was able to hold down their home court and stay in first place in the league with a 7-1 record. Lincoln actually dropped to fourth place in the standings with their 3rd loss in league play.
