Friday,
February 5, 2016
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Jamir Thomas had hit three 3-pointers all season heading into Thursday. He hit three in the fourth quarter against Clifton to lead Passaic to a 52-47 win in the Passaic County Tournament. |
PASSAIC – On the basketball court, leadership comes in all shapes and forms. Sometimes it is a heady point guard or a lockdown defender who can carry a team on their back and control a game. No matter what position he plays, however, the leader is the player that wants the ball in crunch time and whose teammates truly believe he will lead them to victory. For Passaic, Jamir Thomas is that player.
Facing a fourth-quarter deficit against upstart Clifton in the first-round of the Passaic County Tournament, the 6-foot-6 post player picked an unconventional method, for him at least, to pick up his team.
Having hit just three 3-pointers the entire season, Thomas matched that total in the fourth quarter alone. Down by three with just over three minutes remaining, Thomas hit a long-range shot from the wing to tie it and put eighth-seeded Passaic ahead to stay on its next possession with another 3 from the opposite. Behind Thomas, the Indians advanced to the Passaic County quarterfinals with a hard-fought 52-47 victory over No. 16 seed Clifton on Thursday at Passaic High School.
“Jamir is a player that has really improved this year and he’s becoming a true leader,” said Passaic head coach Ken Slappy. “In the fourth quarter we had to just relax and play after we lost the lead. For his size, Jamir can step out and hit that shot. I thought he took the game on his shoulders tonight and ran with it.”
Thomas did what he usually does early on. He established himself as a post presence that is nearly un-guardable one-on-one. He scored on three straight possessions, all off of dishes from Jordan Hernandez, followed by a 3-pointer from Wilmer Sanchez to cap a 14-3 run to open the game.
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Harton Stephenson scored a team-high 16 points for Clifton. |
Despite being the second lowest seed in the Passaic County Tournament, Clifton won its play-in game and followed that up with a preliminary-round upset over Eastern Christian last week to get into the main draw. Harton Stephenson hit a pair of three-pointers to help the Mustangs cut into that lead by halftime, 26-20.
Luis Rodriguez provided solid point guard play off the bench as Clifton cut the Indians’ halftime lead in half going into the fourth quarter. The Mustangs were down 33-30 after three quarters.
The Mustangs kept battling and took their first lead near the midway point of the fourth quarter. Rodriguez used some english off the glass to score on a layup and Danny Santana followed with a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 41-38 lead with 4:10 left in regulation. Passaic had every reason to panic at that point after leading all game. With the outcome of the game in doubt, Thomas refused to let the Indians lose.
“It was frustrating to lose that lead, but I have confidence in my teammates and they have confidence in me,” said Thomas, who has already drawn the attention of numerous Division 1 schools. “I know what to do in crunch time and I had to take over.”
With the Mustangs’ defense focused on double-teaming him inside, Thomas stepped out to the wing with the Clifton defense daring him to shoot. He did just that by knocking a down 3-pointer to tie it while getting the partisan home crowd back into it. Then, after a Clifton miss, Thomas found himself open on the other wing. There was no hesitation as he splashed another 3 to put Passaic ahead, 44-41, with 2:33 to play.
“They were doubling me inside and they were doing a good job of it. I had to switch it up and get some looks from the outside,” added Thomas. “I know I can hit those shots and if I was open I had to take them.”
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Jordan Hernandez and Passaic will get a shot at top-seeded Wayne Hills in the Passaic County quarterfinals. |
Stephenson hit a 3-pointer from the corner to slice a five-point lead down to two inside the final minute, 49-47. Like Thomas, Hernandez also proved to be cool under pressure as he hit both ends of a one-and-one to make it a two-possession game with 37 seconds left as Passaic survived the upset bid.
Thomas led all players with 26 points (one off of his career best), and added 10 rebounds and two blocks for Passaic (10-7). Jabarr Santo finished with 12 points and Sanchez added eight. Hernandez closed with six points, five rebounds, and five assists.
Stephenson led the way for Clifton (5-13) with 16 points. Santana and Delano Dixon added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Passaic moves on into the Passaic County quarterfinal where it draws top-seeded Wayne Hills. Beating the Patriots on their home court will be a tall task, but in a Passaic County Tournament that is as wide open as it has ever been, the Indians are not just happy to be there. They feel that every team left in the tournament has a shot to win it.
“The Passaic County Tournament is as wide open as its ever been by far; I’ve been coaching here 32 years and I’ve played in one or two Passaic County Tournaments myself so that tells you how wide open it is,” added Slappy. “We see it as an opportunity to go against a very good team like Wayne Hills. Anything can happen in the county tournament. We’re excited to see how we match up with them and how we respond to playing in a big game like that.”
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