Thomas Jefferson guard Shamorie Ponds had the first of what he hopes will be many memorable games at his future home arena.
The St. John’s University-commit scored a game-high 23 points as he helped the second-seeded Orange Wave pull out a 74–65 win over No. 3 Wings Academy in the Public School Athletic League Class AA boys’ basketball at St. John’s home court Carnesecca Arena on March 5.
The win sends Jefferson to the final against rival and No. 4-seeded Abraham Lincoln at noon on March 12 at Ponds’s second future home, Madison Square Garden, where the St. John’s boys play when games draw too big of a crowd for Carnesecca in Queens.
It is Jefferson’s fourth appearance in the title game in the last five years.
Ponds also got a chance this last weekend to impress some of his future St. John’s teammates and coaches.
Current Red Storm players Kassoum Yakwe, Marcus LoVett, Federico Mussini, Yankuba Sima, and Tariq Owens were all court-side along with assistant coaches Matt Abdelmassih and Greg St. Jean for the win over Wings Academy. And Ponds was feeling the love.
“It was a good experience, the crowd was on my side a little bit…trying to amp me up,” said Ponds. “I mean, I’m just excited.”
Ponds led the way for Jefferson, but he had a good deal of help. Fellow seniors Rasheen Dunn, a St. Francis College commit, and Curtis Smith scored 22 and 14 points respectively. The three combined for 61 of the Jefferson’s 74 points.
“Rasheen Dunn really stepped up today — he didn’t play so well in the [quarterfinals],” said Jefferson coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard. “I said ‘Ra, shake it off, because it’s a comeback game,’ and he was a killer today.”
Still, Jefferson’s victory was hard-fought against the defending city champions.
The squad jumped out to a 17–5 lead early in the first quarter, but the Wings hanged tough. The team trailed just 41–40 at the half and was down 62–60 with 3:37 left to play.
Down the stretch, Ponds took over in the arena that he will soon call home. He extended the Jefferson lead to 64–60 with a clutch jumper with 2:58 left, and after Wings pulled within two, a Dunn basket with 2:09 to play brought Jefferson’s lead back up to four.
Wings (22–4) got back to within one possession one last time after Jose Perez split a pair of free throws to make it 66–63 with 1:36 left to play. But Ponds and the Orange Wave pulled away for good after that.
Two Smith free throws extended the lead to five, and following a strong defensive possession, a Ponds layup with 52.1 seconds remaining gave Jefferson a 70–63 lead and all but put the game away. The Orange Wave finished the game’s final five minutes on a 16–7 run.
Jefferson (21–9) will now square off with its rival Lincoln to determine this year’s champ. The Railsplitters comfortably defeated the Orange Wave back on Feb. 14 in the borough championship at York College. Afterward the Pollard and Lincoln coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton traded jabs over who was the “big dog” in town and he joked about how they could settle it.
“It’s like good old times, me and Tiny squaring off at The Garden,” he said. “I’ll play him one-on-one for this chip. I know I’ll take him one-on-one for the post, and I shoot better than him.”
Bu it is not all fun and games — the Orange Wave has an opportunity to break a 60-year, city-title drought.
“It’s become a burden, because that’s all everybody talks about,” Pollard said.
