Gami 59. Trenton Central 44

What I'm listening to: David Bowie... Dido... Renaissance... Suzanne Vega... DMX... Bright Eyes... Stevie Wonder... They Might Be Giants... the Pixies...

I've actually got the Temple-St. Joe's game on without the sound. I was trhilled for my Owls yesterday, and now I'm hoping for a comeback. They're down 12 with 16 left. Make that 15. Ouch.

Anyway, I had so much stuff to do last night that I figured I'd postpone the post until today, and I'm just now getting to it. Of course, the stuff that's naturally fresh in my mind the night of a game is kind of fuzzy now, but one thing still stands right out: Tara Booker is pretty great. Cintella Spotwood was terrific for TC last night, and really had the Braves at a loss as to how to stop her for a while, but when Booker was on the floor, she was the best player out there.

The player I always want to compare her to in my mind is De'ree Fooks from Wilson, probably because they're about the same height, they both haul in a ton of boards, play offense facing the basket, and will be back next year. Fooks is maybe still a quicker defender and perhaps a little better at getting to the hoop, but Booker's shot has become a consistent weapon. Fooks doesn't take very many threes anymore, which is understandable when her ability allows her to drive for high-percentage looks.

The other major factor on that team right now is Connie James, who has inspired me to think about coming up with SJ all-defensive team. Obviously, if I did, she't be on it. Gami went to a zone and then a box-and-one in the second half, with James on CSpotwood, and while I think TC did plenty to hinder themselves, James really slowed her girl down. On offense, she was the Braves surest handle down the stretch, and she grabbed four huge boards in the fourth quarter.

Another thing: it's great to see Krissy Rosario playing with some passion again. She only put down four last night, but she was really big on the boards, she ran the floor, she played good D,made a couple steals. In general, she affected the game, whereas earlier in the season she'd been something of a non-factor.

I mentioned Trenton's ineptitude against the zone a moment ago. It was so pronounced that I was actually surprised when Gami went back to man-to-man, even though it's always been their primary defense. The Tornadoes were trailing, the Braves sagged off and TC just stood there, as if they were waiting for the defense to get out of the way. When they did move, it wasn't to run a play. It was streetball with refs.

By the way, Temple's still down 10 with seven left, but I think the Owls have missed like 57 foul shots in this game alone. If they're an average foul-shooting team, I think they'd not only be tied or ahead in this particular game, they might be playing for an at-large NCAA bid. At least yesterday's win over GW probably locked up an NIT invite.

SJU just got to 60 points. In Temple games, it's almost always first-team-to-60-wins. Now the Owls are down 12 with under four to play. Not looking good. Man, the Owls just can't hit shots. Kind of like Haddonfield was last night, hanging around and hanging around but never able to put any offense together. My background has taught me to appreciate ugly basketball, but it can be so frustrating.

Wow. Dude just missed two one-footers that could have cut it to seven.

Anyway, I'm going to post again tonight with a rundown of the state finals to supplement to one that will run in the paper tomorrow. Till then...