Brooklyn Boro

Jefferson comes from behind to beat Lincoln for Brooklyn Boro Championship

February 17, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Isiah Deas suffered a lot of criticism from his coach after Jefferson’s previous loss to Lincoln, but he stepped up and scored 24 points to redeem himself in the Boro final. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese
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The Jefferson Orange Wave had a huge fourth quarter, pulling off an unlikely 76-73 comeback victory against the Lincoln Railsplitters in the Public School Athletic League’s Brooklyn Boro Championship at Queens College on Saturday.

It was the third time the two teams faced each other this season, with each team winning once at home. In the previous matchup, Lincoln’s forwards thoroughly outplayed Jefferson’s, so it was fitting that junior forward Isiah Deas would be the catalyst in the comeback this time around.

“I took that personally because they outrebounded me a lot,” Deas said of the previous matchup against Lincoln. “I had five rebounds in the first quarter, and I finished with five, so it left a bad taste in my mouth. Me and [Jefferson head coach Bud Pollard] had a long talk after and he told me if I came out played hard and rebound then we would win this game, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Deas led Jefferson with 24 points and nine rebounds in the Boro finals including 19 points in the second half. Deas, however, gave credit to teammate Jaquan McKennon for leading Jefferson to victory. McKennon had 17 points and stepped up when teammate Shamorie Ponds — who is dealing a hip injury — was limited to just nine points after the first quarter.

“Jaquan, he’s the driver to this championship bus,” Deas said. “Wherever he’s going everyone else just follows his lead. We call him Moses. He parts the sea, and we just follow him.”

Lincoln jumped out to an early lead in the game and led 21-15 after it finished the first quarter on a 7-0 run. The Railsplitters increased that lead to nine points by halftime when Tyler Bourne hit a three-point shot at the buzzer.
After Lincoln dominated for three quarters, Jefferson finally took control and started to chip away at that lead in the fourth. McKennon hit a three to cut the lead to 67-64 with 5:32 left. Then Deas hit a pair from the line to cut it to one and Ponds finally put Jefferson up on a layup that made it 70-69.

Ponds fouled out in the final minutes, but Deas made sure that lead didn’t disappear as he hit six shots from the line in the closing quarter.

“I’ve been riding Deas really hard because he doesn’t know how good he is,” Pollard said. “He’s one of the best players in the city, but he’s just too cool and laid back. He’s a nice kid. I told him in the Brooklyn AA nice guys finish last. I finished last my first year and I’m not doing it again.”

With the Boro title in hand, Jefferson now advances to the city playoffs along with Lincoln, where the two teams could meet for the fourth and final time this season. Neither Pollard nor Lincoln’s head coach Kenny Pretlow sounded excited to face each other again, but both realized that it might be necessary.

“If we played Lincoln in a seven-game series it would go to seven,” Pollard said. “It’s going to be another fight. Hopefully, we get a chance to play them for a fourth time, that we can advance that far, but I’m not looking forward to it.”


With Michael Dominguez.

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