Thomas Jefferson’s Thaddeus Hall goes up for a contested layup in St. Anthony’s 71-60 win at Lincoln. (Denis Gostev)
St. Anthony of Jersey City got the entire New York City public school experience: early start time, metal detectors to enter the gym, a full 32 minutes of pressure.
Oh, and a near in-game fracas.
“I’d like to say it was a street fight, but we already had that,” St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley Sr. said after the Friars’ 71-60 win over Thomas Jefferson at Lincoln in Coney Island on Wednesday. “Let’s call it a chess match.”
St. Anthony, the New Jersey powerhouse ranked third in the country by USA Today, led Jefferson 25-23 with 3:55 remaining in the first half when Orange Wave coach Lawrence (Bud) Pollard nearly came to blows with junior guard Jalen Evans’ father, Ken.
Ken Evans was angry with Pollard’s use of his son after he was pulled, and let his feelings be known. After a verbal exchange, in which spectators and Pollard said Ken Evans used profanity, a brief altercation ensued and play was stopped for five minutes as Ken Evans was escorted out of the gym by school safety officers.
“He was a little upset with Jalen’s playing time,” Pollard said. “He said a few things. I’ve known the guy a long time, things happen. We play on the same 40-and-over team.”
He later added: “Of course I regret it. You never want things like to mar events like these.”
Jalen Evans was “shocked” when he saw Pollard and his father getting into it. The guard had just come out of the game and didn’t realize it was his father behind the bench barking at the coaching staff.
“I wanted them to stop,” he said. “I wanted the win no matter what.”
With Jefferson (21-6) somewhat dazed, St. Anthony took over when play resumed, ripping off a 12-1 run to go into the half with a 37-24 lead. They slowed the pace from frenetic, which Jefferson prefers, to methodical.
“I think that took a lot out of them and we capitalized,” said St. Anthony star Kyle Anderson, the UCLA recruit who had 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Jefferson, ranked second in the city by The Post, opened in a full-court press intended to take Anderson out of the game, but it often led to easy baskets for his teammates in transition. Pollard said the plan was to press only after made baskets, but too often the Orange Wave didn’t get back on missed shots, and they paid the price.
The Orange Wave got within six points in the final minute, as Thaddeus Hall and Jaquan (Son Son) Lynch nearly shot them back into it. The two scored 21 points apiece, but Jefferson saw its 10-game winning streak snapped nevertheless as St. Anthony made its free throws down the stretch. The Friars, meanwhile, have now won 54 straight contests, 33 of them in last year’s perfect season. For all its accomplishments, St. Anthony (21-0) has never had consecutive undefeated seasons.
“That’s great, but that’s something we want to discuss after the season,” Anderson said.
Hurley played down the streak’s significance – they don’t even talk about it, in fact, he said. The Hall-of-Fame coach is more worried about his team getting better on a daily basis, which he felt happened on Wednesday. He lauded the overall experience – from the packed crowd and narrow court to relentless opponent.
“It’s something to make us more resilient and tough,” he said. “It was like a game in the playground. … We had to play a 32-minute game, which we have only been forced to do four or five times.”
He later said: “This is the No. 1-rated public school team in New York City in a public school gym. This is not home for them, but it’s sure not neutral.”
Hall, Jefferson’s talented southpaw swingman, was visibly frustrated after. He said the game was there to be won. He refused to take any kind of a moral victory from the loss.
“They are just ranked higher on the internet. I don’t play off of who is ranked. I really felt like we could have beaten them today, but a lot of things went wrong,” he said. “They’re just like us. All of their players aren’t better than [ours].”
Pollard felt there was a lesson to be learned from the loss. Jefferson has been winning, the coach said, despite making mistakes. Those errors – such as turnovers and missed assignments on defense – were magnified against a team of St. Anthony’s caliber. And while the Orange Wave won’t see anyone near the Friars level in the city playoffs, there are areas of their game that can be tightened up.
“There are certain things you can’t do,” Pollard said. “It was definitely a good lesson.”