Anchors aweigh in 1st place

Prologue
Its a first place battle in the Minneapolis City as South visits Southwest.  Both teams 6-2 and a game ahead of Henry and Washburn in the loss column for 1st place.  South won the 1st meeting by 18 at home.  Trivia question that we'll answer at the end of the article.  Name the last time that these teams were in the Twin Cities Game?  A late day in the real world means I show up during warmups.  That means only 20 oz of beverage from the concession stand.  Interesting night of music.  We get 50 Cent's In Da Club followed by some very of the theme from Mr Rogers Neighborhood.  Continuing the PBS theme, we get a modern version of the Sesame Street theme for South's introductions.  Then at halftime a dance contest to the Cha Cha Slide.  That's great and all but it can't match me with today's Song of the Day

Song of the Day
Moves like Jagger - Maroon 5 (featuring Christina Aguilera)

Game Time
South frosh Payton Bowdry doing it inside and out early.  He scores inside and knocks down a pair of 3s as he scores 12 of the 1st 16 for South.  5 in a row for him to end that spurt.  16-15 South at the 10:18 mark.  Akeem Smith floater and a 3 in transition and AJ Ray 4 in a row for Southwest.  24-19 Southwest at the 6:56 mark.  Then 5'6" Cam Knuckles (not to be confused with former DLS star Cam Rundles) off the Southwest bench and he gives them great minutes the rest of the half.  He helps lead the Lakers on a 7-0 run for a 10 point lead. South gets 5 in a row from guard Kenley Farrow as the Tigers score the last 7 of the half.  35-32 Southwest leading at the half.

Alejandro Richardson with a putback and drive.  South ties it up at 38 just over 2 minutes into the half.  Then 6 in a row from Southwest with a pair of layups and a Smith floater.  Timeout South down 44-38 with 12:07 left.  Coach Joe Hyser gets his guys to respond.  Bowdry off the bounce right out of the timeout and a tough 2 with a pair of Tigers triples.  Its a 13-2 Tigers run and Southwest needs a timeout.  51-46 South leading with 8:43 left.  Southwest PG Demetrius Cady for 3 to break the run.  Bowdry with a layup countered by another Cady bucket.  Back and forth we go as South leads 55-54 with 4:50 left.  Southwest getting a layup out of THE WORLD'S WORST OFFENSE to stay within 1.  Then Bowdry for 2 and he'll grab and rebound and lead the break.  He gives it up and gets it back for a layup and the foul with 2:58 left.  The free throw is off the mark but South opens up a 61-56 lead. 

Southwest counters with a bucket and they get South to throw up a couple of bad shots but the Tigers manage to keep possession by getting on the offensive board.  They'll spread the floor but a 5 second call turns it over with 1:30 left.  A nice cut by Ray for a layup to cut the South lead to 1 just inside of a minute to play.  South almost turns it over after breaking the press but they'll get a timeout to save possession.  But the inbounds is underneath and they throw it right to the corner and get it back.  Southwest smartly traps that and in an attempt to split the double team, South turns it over.  Cady back the other way for the Lakers and its a charge with 22 seconds to play.  61-60 South still leading.

Now Southwest has to foul and Farrow steps up and makes 2 with 18.5 to play.  Southwest takes a timeout and with 2 fouls to give South decides to give them.  They get 1 at the 9.7 mark but the 2nd one is a shooting foul as Cady puts up a 3.  Oh my!  Cady steps up and makes the 1st 2 with 7.7 left.  63-62 South leading and they'll take timeout to ice Cady and setup a play before the 3rd free throw.  Cady's 3rd freebie is around and falls off the rim.  Bowdry grabs board and he'll shoot 2 with 6.5 left.  The 1st is no good and Southwest has life.  The 2nd is good.  No timeout either way and back comes Southwest right out of the net.  A kick ahead to AJ Ray on the right wing, 1 dribble, 2 dribbles, pull up from the 3 point line.  It banks in, holy cow!!!  The crowd erupts and rushes the floor as Southwest gets a buzzer beater 3 to beat South 65-64.  One of the most dramatic endings I'll see all season.

Post Game
Minneapolis South to 11-9 overall, 6-3 in the Minneapolis City.  Freshman forward Payton Bowdry leads the Tigers with 25 points and 8 rebounds on my sheet.  Alejandro Richardson 12 points and Kenley Farrow 11 points for the double figure scoring.  Interesting mix of high/low and euro ball screen offense from the Tigers. Next week is all non-conference play for the Tigers as they host Benilde-St. Margaret's and Robbinsdale Armstrong.

Minneapolis Southwest improves to 12-9 overall. They move to 7-2 and take sole possession of 1st place in the Minneapolis City.  They have 1 major conference test remaining and that's at Washburn in 2 weeks.  Akeem Smith 17 points, Demetrius Cady 16, Cam Ross and AJ Ray with 12 each.  Really liked the activity of Cam Knuckles off the bench and was surprised that he didn't get more time considering the spark he gave the Lakers. 

Trivia Answer
Southwest has played in the Twin Cities Game only once in their history, that was 30 years ago in 1983 when they defeated Johnson 56-37.  South last played in the game in 1989 losing in overtime to Central 87-80.  The longest drought in the Minneapolis City is Edison who last played in the game in 1965.