Jefferson coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard never got off Isiah Deas’s back after the forward’s poor performance in a regular season loss to rival Abraham Lincoln a week earlier. That led to Deas carrying the Orange Wave on his in last Saturday’s rematch.
“That didn’t feel too good,” Deas said. “It left a bad taste in my mouth. Me and Pollard had a long talk.”
The message to be more aggressive clearly got through. Deas scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to help propel Jefferson to a 76–73 comeback win over Lincoln in the Public School Athletic League Brooklyn Borough boys’ basketball final on Feb. 14 at Queens College. The two teams split the regular season meetings, with each winning on their home court.
Deas was hitting jumpers and was active on the glass. He scored seven of the Orange Wave’s final 12 points, including a tough layup off a designed play to give his team a 72–69 lead with 1:13 remaining.
“He doesn’t know how good he is,” Pollard said. “He’s one of the better players in the city, but he is just too cool and laid back. He’s just a nice kid. I told him, ‘listen brother, this is Brooklyn AA — nice guys finish last.’ ”
Lincoln, which led by as many as 13 points midway through the third quarter, didn’t help itself down the stretch either. It missed its final six free throws and freshman guard Tyler Bourne missed a wide-open layup that would have given his team the lead with 27 seconds left. The Railsplitters (24–3) also didn’t foul late, allowing Rasheem Dunn get a transition layup. Lincoln’s youth appeared for the first time this season.
“It showed a little bit,” said Railsplitters coach Kenny Pretlow.
On the other side, Jefferson senior point guard Jaquan McKennon was the catalyst for the turnaround against a Lincoln team that was knocking down jumper after jumper in the middle two quarters. McKennon, with star Shamorie Ponds slowed by injury and struggling with foul trouble, scored 17 points and hit big three-pointer after big three-pointer.
“I told my teammates as senior to keep playing, and get stops, keep running the offense and we are going to get the win,” McKennon said.
The most important trey came over the outstretched arm of Paul Person. It pulled Jefferson (24–3) within 67–64 with 5:30 remaining in the game.
“Jaquan, he is the driver to the championship bus,” Deas said. “Everyone just follows his lead. We call him Moses here. When he parts the sea, we just follow him.”
Donald Flores led Lincoln with 19 points, Ezekiel Charles had 15 and Bourne added 13. Ponds chipped 17 points for Jefferson.
The two rivals will go their separate ways for a while now, with Jefferson in line for the top seed in the citywide playoffs. Lincoln is expected to be in the top four. There is a chance they could fight it out one more time with an even bigger prize on the line.
“It’s going to be another fight,” Pollard said. “Hopefully, a chance to play them for a fourth time if we can advance, but I’m not looking forward to it.”
