If Thomas Jefferson can bottle up the second half, put it in a jar and save it for when needed, the Orange Wave may be dancing at Madison Square Garden on March 6.
Jefferson didn’t just beat archrival Lincoln after halftime, it throttled the four-time defending champion Railsplitters, more than doubling their score, creating nearly an entire fourth quarter of garbage time.
The result was a surprisingly easy 78-54 victory in East New York, which earned the second-seeded Orange Wave (19-7) a berth in Sunday’s Brooklyn borough final opposite No. 1 Boys & Girls at St. Francis College. The victory snapped Lincoln’s five-year run atop the borough.
“Today,” Jefferson coach Lawrence Pollard said, “the rabbit had the gun.”
It started with the backcourt play of Davontay Grace and Dave Coley, the Division I-bound twosome combining for 40 points altogether, 23 from Grace, a St. John’s recruit. He also had 15 assists, sank three 3-pointers and basically lived in the lane. Coley, headed for Stony Brook in the fall, had 17 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.
“That’s what big-time guards do,” Pollard said.
The superfluous performance continued in the frontcourt, where undersized forward Eric Turpin Jr. scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against his far larger adversaries. Not to be outdone, Shamel Williams added 10 points and 10 rebounds and unsung center Edson Avila added five blocks and 10 rebounds.
The game was very much in doubt at halftime, Jefferson nursing a 34-30 lead. It quickly turned after a Kamari Murphy layup. Coley hit a running jumper, Grace drilled a 3-pointer, hit a pair of free throws and drained another trifecta. Coley’s steal and scoop made it 46-36.
It would only get worse for Lincoln (16-9), which was led by Shaquille Stokes’ 11 points. Later in the quarter, Coley hit a 3-pointer, Turpin knocked down a pair of free throws and Thaddeus Hall scored in transition, extending it to a 17-point bulge. In the fourth, Corwin Austin’s offensive rebound and follow made it 70-44.
Overall, Jefferson outscored Lincoln, 54-24, after halftime.
“It wasn’t really surprising because I feel if we are on our ‘A’ game, we’re capable of beating anybody like that,” Grace said. “We showed them we’re on another level.”
The Railsplitters committed mistakes that characterized previous Jefferson losses to them – missed free throws, turnovers, technical fouls. Stokes and Raymond O’Loughlin were each whistled for technicals. Lincoln had troubled with Jefferson’s press. The Orange Wave, meanwhile, handled whatever adversity they faced with aplomb.
“We dealt with them,” Turpin said.
Since a league loss to Boys & Girls, Jefferson has begun to click on all cylinders. It has won seven of eight. The Orange Wave won on the road at Transit Tech and Lincoln last week and have prevailed in their two borough games by a combined 47 points. At the forefront of the turnaround is the return of Hall, a sharp-shooting sophomore, but also the improved play of Coley and Grace, particularly down the stretch.
Pollard has motivated the two saying they are somewhat forgotten. He hears about John F. Kennedy’s Naquan Pierce and Jeffrey Short, Robeson’s Darrel Lucky and Jamel Noel, Wings Academy’s Deonte Houston and Jordan Aaron.
“It’s like they forgot about these guys,” Pollard said.
Grace isn’t worried.
“All we got to do is prove it by winning,” he said.
