Francis Lewis’ Tatiana Wilson soars in for the layup. (Damion Reid)
The score was tied with 2:39 left against a strong opponent. Last year, that would have been a recipe for disaster for the Francis Lewis girls basketball. The 2008-09 Patriots found ways to lose games like that.
This time around, though, Lewis held on.
Tatiana Wilson converted a huge reverse layup in transition and Jasmine Davis came up with a monster offensive rebound when it was a one-possession game. The Patriots withstood Thomas Jefferson’s furious rally and won, 56-51, on Monday afternoon in a pivotal early season PSAL Class AA game in Fresh Meadows, Queens.
“We were scrappy, we fought through it,” Lewis coach Steve Tsai said. “We could have just given up when they tied the game. … Last year, I think we would have been yelling at each other.”
Jefferson (3-1), ranked No. 3 in the PSAL by The Post, tied it at 49 on a Shakera Williamson basket, off an Alicia Cropper assist, with 2:39 left and actually went ahead, 51-50, when Cropper found Joycelyn Cummings down low for a layup with 1:40 to go. But No. 4 Lewis (5-0) pushed the ball up and Kelly Robinson found Wilson swooping to the hoop to put the Patriots back ahead.
Robinson would then hit a pair of free throws to make it 54-51 and Lewis got a pair of stops despite the efforts of Cropper. With 10 seconds left, Wilson missed a layup that would have sealed the game, but Davis came out of nowhere to corral the rebound. The sophomore St. Michael Academy transfer passed it out to Robinson, who was fouled and then hit two free throws.
“Last year, I don’t think many people would have put their face in there like that,” Tsai said of the big offensive board. “[Davis] brings toughness and it rubs off on other people.”
That toughness wasn’t the only thing different about Lewis. Senior guard Shenita Urquhart, who finished with 10 points, has made great strides. She scored seven of the Patriots’ last 10 points of the first half to put them up, 28-23. Her 3-point play, off a pretty feed from Robinson, with 8.2 seconds left in the third quarter gave Lewis its largest lead of the game at 43-32.
Tsai said he always thought of Urquhart as a backup point guard, but this season he’s seeing her more like a backup for Wilson at shooting guard and it seems to have made a difference.
“She’s surprised us,” Lewis senior center Sabrina Jeridore said. “She’s been stepping it up – not just on offense, but defense, too.”
Wilson led Lewis with 15 points, the Iona-bound Jeridore had 10 points and 10 rebounds and the UMass-bound Robinson added nine points and five assists. Cropper finished 25 points and was the only Jefferson player in double figures. Danielle Pearson had eight.
“We would have lost this game last year – honestly,” Jeridore said.
Everyone seemed to contribute Monday, whether it was Wilson scoring, Jeridore using her size, Robinson’s gorgeous passes, Davis’ grittiness or senior Ayana Duncanson throwing herself all over the court for loose balls. Tyese Purvis, Niya Walker and Patricia Tiu even did a nice job off the bench.
“We have a lot of tools,” Jeridore said. “And if they all come together, we can be dangerous.”
They already are.