by Alex Schwartz

The second game of the night is about to begin. The contest pits Duncanville (TX), the preseason #1 team in the US in most polls, against LeFlore (AL), which has maybe the best big man in the country, DeMarcus Cousins '09, a former UAB commit. Duncanville has been disappointing thus far, with seven losses, while LeFlore has been great, coming into the game with only one loss, and wins over squads such as Lincoln (NY) and South Atlanta (GA). Kentari Nettles '10, a South Alabama pledge, teams with Cousins to give LeFlore an imposing frontcourt. For Duncanville, it's Shawn Williams '09 (Texas), Reger Dowell '09 (Oklahoma State), Roger Franklin '09 (Oklahoma State), and  Perry Jones '10 (Baylor) who are the biggest names. Julian Washburn '10 is the fifth starter and Jamison Sterns '10 is the sixth man, and both are high-major DI players. The matchup to watch is DeMarcus Cousins vs. Perry Jones in the post.

6:35pm- Shawn Williams '09 opened the scoring with a triple for Duncanville.

6:36pm- Kentari Nettles '10 jammed one home for LeFlore and then Roger Franklin '09 nailed a trey to put Dville up 6-2.

6:37pm- Nettles tipped in his own miss. It's 6-4 in favor of Duncanville with 5:07 to play in the first quarter.

6:40pm- Cousins can't get anything going, and his team trails 9-4 through four and a half minutes of play.

6:41pm- Perry Jones '10 has scored to make it 11-4.

6:42pm- The LeFlore Rattlers looked perplexed by the Duncanville 2-1-2 defense, though Cousins did just manage his first points of the game, about six minutes in, one a little hook shot, cutting the lead to five, 11-6.

6:43pm- On a side note, most of the LeFlore players are wearing two different colored shoes, one orange and one green. It actually looks kind of cool.

6:44pm- With 12.8 seconds in the first quarter, it's 15-6 Duncanville.

6:45pm- Cousins got the ball at the top of the key with five or six seconds left in the quarter, bu was quickly double-teamed, and couldn't get a shot off. LeFlore trails 15-6 through one quarter of play. Cousins has been held to a mere two points.

6:48pm- Cousins, who is being mobbed every time he touches the ball, scored three points the old-fashioned way to make it 15-9, a minute into the second quarter. Perry Jones answered at the other end. It's 17-9.

6:50pm- Cousins missed a jumper, but grabbed the loose ball rebound, and dished it to Gerald Watkins '09 who knocked down a trey to make it a five-point affair, 17-12.

6:52pm- Another three from Watkins has made it a 17-15 game with just over 4:30 to play in the third quarter.

6:54pm- There have been a very large amount of turnovers in this game, as it has been sloppy, and both offenses are struggling. There have been only 32 total points scored through 11 minutes of action.

6:56pm- DeMarcus Cousins is really struggling with all the attention being paid to him down low. The big man has a number of turnovers and is clearly very frustrated. It's still 17-15 Dville with 2:20 to go in the half. No one has scored for over two minutes.

6:58pm- The turnovers are continuing. The score remains 17-15 with under 1:30 to play in the first half. We've had over three scoreless minutes.

6:59pm- Roger Franklin scored for the Dville Panthers, and then LeFlore knocked down a triple, cutting the lead to just one, 19-18, the closest it has been since it was 3-2.

7:00pm- Cousins stole a pass in the backcourt under the Dville basket and dunked the ball, giving LeFlore its first lead of the game 20-19.

7:01pm- The Rattlers of LeFlore are up 20-19 at halftime.

7:15pm- Cousins nailed a trey to open the scoring in the second half, and extend the LeFlore run to 14-2. Shawn Williams then scored at the other end. Cousins answered with a deuce, and Perry Jones then scored at the other end.

7:16pm- Gerald Watkins nailed a three to make it 28-23 in favor of LeFlore with about 5:30 to go in the third quarter. LeFlore is currently on a 22-8 run, dating back to early in the second quarter.

7:17pm- A basket from Cousins has made it 30-23 in favor of LeFlore. The talent and the production from Duncanville just does not match up.

7:18pm- DeMarcus Cousins scored yet again. The Rattlers are now ahead 32-23.

7:19pm- Denzel McDaniels '09 scored for LeFlore to make it 34-23, leading to a Dville timeout. Shawn Williams was clearly frustrated and was telling his teammates about it during the break. Since leading 15-6, the Panthers have been outscored 28-8 by LeFlore.

7:22pm- It's now 34-25 LeFlore with 2:43 to play in the third quarter.

7:23pm- It is 34-27 after Roger Franklin scored and drew contact, but missed his free throw.

7:24pm- Julian Washburn '10 made a pair of free throws to cut the Rattlers' lead to five, 34-29. Duncanville is on a 6-0 run.

7:25pm- The Dville run is now 9-0 as Shawn Williams has connected on a three-pointer, making it 34-32.

7:27pm- Great play from Cousins; he batted a pass at about halfcourt, picked up the loose ball, and finished on the break to end the Panthers' run.

7:28pm- With one quarter left to play, LeFlore is up 36-32.

7:29pm- Cousins opened the fourth quarter with a fantastic dunk to extend the Rattlers' lead to six, 38-32.

7:32pm- It's 42-32 with about 6:15 to go after a Gerald Watkins three for LeFlore. Shawn Williams answered with a triple at the other end to cut the lead to seven.

7:34pm- Two free throws from Dville have made it a 42-37 game with about 5:30 left in regulation. The next time downcourt, Shawn Williams knocked in another triple to make it a two-point game.

7:35pm- DeMarcus Cousins scored to push the LeFlore lead back up to four, 44-40, with under five minutes to go.

7:36pm- Cousins scored yet again. His squad is up 46-43, as Roger Franklin just hit a three for Dville to answer Cousins' deuce.

7:37pm- Cousins made the first of two free throws. LeFlore is up 47-43 with just over three minutes to play.

7:38pm- DeMarcus Cousins has been amazing in the second half. He just drew a charge to get the ball back for LeFlore, which took a timeout, leading 47-43 with 2:54 to go.

7:40pm- Yet another deuce from Cousins—leading to a Dville timeout with 2:33 left—has made it 49-43.

7:42pm- Dville came up scoreless, and now LeFlore has the ball back with under two minutes left.

7:43pm- Cousins could not convert on an alley-oop. A long pass from Duncanville was stolen by Marlon Ford '09, who was then called for traveling. Dville could not score upon getting the ball back, and Cousins grabbed the rebound.

7:45pm- Cousins was just called for his first foul of the game, sending Julian Washburnto the stripe. The junior made the second of two shots with under a minutes left, cutting the Rattlers' to five, 49-44.

7:46pm- Ford made the first of two free throws for LeFlore, and then Roger Franklin scored on a runner for the Panthers, cutting the lead to four points, 50-46, with 34.9 seconds left.

7:48pm- Shawn Williams' third foul, Dville's ninth as a team, has sent Denzel McDaniels to the line with 31 seconds left, where he connected on both shots.

7:49pm- Roger Franklin was fouled by Kentari Nettles with 23.2 seconds left. The Oklahoma State-signee made both shots.

7:50pm- Nettles had a monster one-handed dunk, and was fouled by Jones with 13.7 seconds to go. He missed the free throw.

7:51pm- It's 54-51 with under four seconds.

7:53pm- Julian Washburn fouled Marlon Ford with 2.1 seconds to go.

8:05pm- LeFlore won 54-51. Shawn Williams, with 22 points, won MVP for Duncanville. For the Rattlers, DeMarcus Cousins was the MVP with 28 points. I've caught up with Cousins and Roger Franklin.

8:15pm- I also got to speak with Shawn Williams, Reger Dowell, and Julian Washburn.