With around a minute left in regulation and his team down 35-33, Alex Yu had a couple “close, but no cigar” moments. He just a missed a short shot in the lane that would have tied it. Then on a long, cross-court pass by Mount Vernon, he got his fingertips near the ball but couldn’t get a steal.
Shortly after those plays the senior guard simply took over, and the word “close” no longer applied to his team’s contest Friday night.
Yu sank two free throws to tie the game a few seconds later and send it into overtime. Yu then scored 12 of his 28 total points in the extra period to enable Thomas Jefferson to cruise and defeat the visiting Majors, 51-36.
The young man was simply clutch, sinking 14 of 15 total free throws and keying his team on offense.
“I missed that shot [in regulation] and I was thinking next play, next play,” said Yu. “We got it to overtime, and 16-1 there–it was a great, solid team effort. Just wanted to continue looking at the next play and get to my spots. I felt like I was hot and just wanted to seal the deal.”
It was a game of runs where TJ’s 18-1 run at the end was the difference. After Mount Vernon went up 4-0, TJ had a 12-0 run to take the lead. Then Mount Vernon, sparked by some excellent bench play, went on a 16-2 run in the second quarter. TJ (2-1) had a 9-0 run in the third quarter and led 33-28 late, but two steals and buckets by the Majors and an and-one from Joshua Caldwell to Jawon Gowder gave Mount Vernon its 35-33 lead.
Talk about a back-and-forth game.
“Credit Lou, [Golden, Mount Vernon coach] he did a great job of adjusting during the course of the game and hurting us, finding open guys on offense,” TJ coach Mark Gray-Mendes said. “I think in the end our experience won out. I play a lot of seniors. Alex has been through a lot of wars both here and on the AAU circuit. He’s a heckuva basketball player and he made some great decisions tonight.”
Yu had a lot of help, both through excellent team defense and on offense. Fellow senior Addison NewRingeisen had ten boards while junior guard Joshua Lovejoy added 11 points. Senior guard Charlie Dobson had six assists, here driving baseline and finding Yu open for the three-pointer:
For Mount Vernon (0-5) starting senior forward Jaedyn Perry had a nice game with nine points and five boards. As mentioned the Majors’ bench was big, as it was responsible for more than half of Mount Vernon’s total points. TJ’s active zone defense proved too difficult a nut to crack, though, as Mount Vernon did not sink a shot from beyond the three-point arc on the night.
–Chris Jollay
all stats are unofficial
| THOMAS JEFFERSON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| LOVEJOY | 3-4 | 3-3 | 11 | 7 | 1 | |
| PHILLIPS | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | |
| DOBSON | 0-4 | 1-6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| NEWRINGEISEN | 2-6 | 0-0 | 4 | 10 | 0 | |
| YU | 6-14 | 14-15 | 28 | 5 | 1 | |
| Hwang | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Park | 1-8 | 3-4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | |
| Kim | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 13-39 | 21-29 | 51 | 33 | 8 | |
| Threes: Lovejoy 2-2, Yu 2-2, Phillips 0-1, Park 0-2, Dobson 0-3 | ||||||
| MOUNT VERNON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| BATTS | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| PERRY | 4-10 | 1-1 | 9 | 5 | 1 | |
| PABICH | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| BARNES | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| WHITE | 1-10 | 2-3 | 4 | 6 | 2 | |
| Caldwell | 3-7 | 1-3 | 7 | 5 | 3 | |
| Saunders | 1-3 | 1-2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |
| Ackah | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |
| Gowder | 2-8 | 1-1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | |
| Townes | 1-6 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| TOTALS | 15-55 | 6-11 | 36 | 30 | 11 | |
| Threes: Batts 0-1, Perry 0-1, Townes 0-1, Ackah 0-1, Caldwell 0-2, Saunders 0-2, White 0-4, Gowder 0-5 | ||||||