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EAGLES ADVANCE IN GMAC When Southwest took the floor Tuesday night for its pre-game
warm-ups, one of the Booker T. Washington security crew commented, "Well
I guess we'll have a running clock tonight," meaning that BTW would
be so far ahead in the fourth quarter that the mercy rule would apply.
By halftime, he knew how badly he had underestimated the Eagles. Southwest
(15-5) jumped out to a 28-12 lead at intermission before holding on for
a 59-57 win over the Tornadoes (15-4) in an opening round game of the
Greater Miami Athletic Conference tournament. The Eagles face Krop (20-4),
the top-ranked team in Miami-Dade, in the semifinals Wednesday night.
Southwest's 2-3 zone defense frustrated Booker T in the first half, but
the best way to beat a zone is to shoot over it, and the Tornadoes did
that in the second half, hitting eight 3-pointers. By the end of the third
period, the Eagles' lead was cut to 40-35. BTW finally caught up at 42-42
with 6:16 left in the game and took its first lead at 48-47 with 4:34
remaining. A basket by Michael Juachon and two by Gio Gonzalez put Southwest
back up by five with 2:52 on the clock. Three Tornado 3-pointers in the
next minute-and-a-half, sandwiched around a Leo Torres 2-pointer, gave
Booker T a 57-55 lead with 1:29 remaining. Gonzalez drained a three of
his own with 33 seconds to go, putting the Eagles up by two. BTW missed
a jumper, Southwest rebounded, and with a half second left, Oscar Blanco
was fouled. Blanco made one of two free throws for the final margin of
victory. Juachon led the Eagles in rebounds, steals, and assists with
7, 5, and 4, respectively. HISTORICAL NOTE This is the first appearance in the GMAC tournament for Southwest since the 2000-2001 season. Back then, the tournament consisted of only 4 teams, the regular season winners of the four districts. Southwest beat Homestead in the semifinals, before falling to Jackson in the county championship game. |
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DISTRICT TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS SET Columbus and Southwest will receive first round byes in the Dustrict Tournament at Ferguson starting Feb. 8. First round match-ups are South Miami vs. Ferguson and Sunset vs. Braddock. The Eagles will face the winner of the South Miami- Ferguson game and Columbus will take on the winner of Sunset-Braddock contest in theWednesday semifinals. The District championship is set for Friday Feb. 12. Both the District champion and the runner-up advance to the Regionals the following week. |