By Simon Chen
It wasn’t the marquee match-up that everyone wanted, the likes of another Boys & Girls-Lincoln Brooklyn Borough Championship final, but it was an underrated team that no one thought would had a chance got their shot in the spotlight. The Jefferson Orange Wave was able to get past Transit Tech in the first round and had a huge second round upset of Boys & Girls to make it to Borough’s Championship contest this past Saturday. As for Lincoln, it was quite simple, as they derailed both Westinghouse and Robeson to have another shot to claim their fourth straight borough title. In two regular season matchups, the Lincoln Railsplitters were a perfect 2-0 against the Jefferson Orange Wave. But this time, there was plenty at stake – the borough championship title. Despite the Orange Wave wiping out second-seeded Boys & Girls to reach this point, the question now becomes, can they get past top-seeded Lincoln? It wasn’t to be, as the Railsplitters derailed Jefferson 87-66 to win their fourth consecutive Brooklyn Borough Championship. Right out of the gates, Lincoln quickly established why they were the borough’s top squad as they immediately grabbed a 7-2 lead, halfway through the quarter. But Jefferson roared back by going on a 6-0 run to claim a 7-6 lead, thanks in part to two Davontay Grace buckets. Right when Jefferson had things going their way, Lincoln slammed the down shut by going on a 14-4 run to cap off the quarter to go up 21-12. During the sequence, Lincoln’s guard Khalif Staten netted three consecutive buckets that translated to six big points. In the second quarter, it was much of the same as the ’Splitters opened a 25-18 lead to open the period. But at the 1:35 mark, Jefferson guard Keith Spellman knocked down two huge free throws to close the gap to within one, 29-28. Sorry to say, that was as close as they would get as Lincoln capped the opening half with a 36-32 lead. Coming into the second half, Lincoln’s guard Darwin “Buddha” Ellis didn’t notch a single point, but he wouldn’t be quiet any longer as he knocked down two huge three pointers to open a 44-34 early third quarter lead. Ellis finished the quarter by adding two more points on the charity stripe as Lincoln built their biggest lead, so far of the night at 12, to make the score 57-45. As the night unraveled, the lead just got wider and wider. At one time, the deficit for the Wave was at 18 when the ‘Splitters had a 68-50 advantage at 6:10 of the final quarter. In the final five minutes of the game, Lincoln furthered their dominance by going on a 15-6 run to post the game’s final score at 87-66 and was well on their way to a fourth straight Brooklyn Division Championship title. “This is really nothing new to us,” said Championship game MVP Lincoln’s guard Darwin “Buddha” Ellis. “We just come out and play every single game like its our last. All we do is come into games hungry and play our best to win.” Said Lincoln Head Coach Dwayne Morton of his team capturing their fourth straight borough championship: “It’s never for me, it’s for them. Every year when the new guys get on this team, it is an experience for them.” Added Lincoln guard Lance Stephenson of his team’s aspiration to capture another PSAL city title for the second consecutive season: “I just play and I love to win. We just want to win the city and come out harder and harder to do it.”
