by Alex Schwartz

The Trenton Catholic (NJ) Iron Mikes are squaring off against the Carmen Sol (PR) Suns in today's third game. TCA is a local favorite, and is led by Markese Tucker '10, Frantz Massenat '10, Dondre Whitmore '10, Daquon Basnight '09, and Khalid Lewis El '11, with a number of players, such as Lafayette Smith '09 and Reggie Coleman '09 who can provide a spark off the bench. As for the squad from Puerto Rico, Raymond Cintron '09 is the star, but Jose Lopez '09 is another one of the team's talented players. The Suns brought a lot of fans and has a cheering section that is about as loud as that of TCA. We're almost nine minutes into this one, so I'll catch you up.

1:57pm- With 7:09 to go in the second quarter, Carmen Sol is ahead 16-14.

1:58pm- With 5:55 to go in the half, TCA has fallen behind 22-16.

1:59pm- After a Chris Lewis '11 three, it's 22-19.

2:01pm- Brandon Taylor '12 knocked down a mid-range J to cut the Carmen Sol lead down to one, 22-21.

2:05pm- Reggie Coleman '09 fed Markese Tucker '10 in the low post, and he put it in to give Trenton Catholic a 23-22 lead. The Iron Mikes are on a 7-0 run.

2:06pm- It's now a 12-0 TCA run after a trey and a pull-up deuce by Coleman. The Iron Mikes hold a 28-22 lead.

2:07pm- Raymond Cintron '09 nailed a triple to end the Iron Mikes' run and make it 28-25.

2:09pm- Cintron is absolutely on fire. He has connected on three threes in the past minute or two, including one at the buzzer to give the Suns a 40-33 lead at the half.

2:11pm- Every time I began to type something that happened, someone else scored. The final few minutes of the half were fast-paced and had a lot of points scored. TCA had a couple of turnovers that led to four Carmen Sol points, and besides a deuce in the paint and a Dondre Whitmore '10 three, it was all Carmen Sol to close out the half. After the 12-0 TCA run to take a 28-22 lead, the Suns went on an 18-5 run to re-claim the lead.

2:23pm- Khalid Lewis El '11 hit a trey for TCA, but Xavier Zambrana '09 quickly answered, so it's 43-36.

2:25pm- Cintron drove to the hole and scored to answer a TCA deuce. Daquon Basnight '09 then scored back-to-back buckets for the Iron Mikes to make it a three-point affair.

2:26pm- A Jose Lopez '09 deuce was answered by a triple from Whitmore, making it a two-point game, 47-45.

2:27pm- Basnight has tied it up at 47 with a little over four minutes to go in the quarter.

2:28pm- Gilberto Acevedo '11, the lone non-junior or senior on Carmen Sol, gave the lead back to the Suns, 49-47, but Basnight tied it back up at 49. The senior, who has over 1,000 career points, is on fire right now, with eight of TCA's last 11 points.

2:30pm- This may be the best game of the event so far. It's high-quality basketball being played by two top-notch teams at a fast pace with some lights-out shooting and physical play.

2:31pm- Two free throws by Tucker gave TCA a 51-49 advantage, but Cintron responded with a trifecta to given the boys from Puerto Rico the lead once again. Tucker though, came back and scored a deuce, so it's 53-52 TCA with under 10 minutes left in the game.

2:32pm- Deep threes by Coleman and Whitmore have given the Iron Mikes a 59-52 lead. The New Jersey team is on an 8-0 run.

2:35pm- With under 35 seconds to go in the quarter, Zambrana hit the first of two at the line, making it 59-53.

2:36pm- Coleman nailed a three at the buzzer to give the Iron Mikes a nine-point lead, 62-53, entering the final period of play. TCA ended the quarter on an 11-1 run.

2:50pm- Trenton Catholic is holding a 74-64 lead with 3:20 to go in regulation after a three-point play by Carmen Sol, which had been up by 13.

2:51pm- A corner trey by Reggie Coleman has put the Iron Mikes up by a baker's dozen, 77-64.

2:54pm- Rafael Rivera '10 scored to make this an 11-point game.

2:55pm- Lewis El missed the front end of a one-and-one, but got his own board. The Iron Mikes got the ball to Whitmore, and he was fouled with 1:45 to go. At the line, the junior made the first of two shots. It's 78-66 TCA.

2:57pm- Giovanny Cruz '10 made the second of two free throws for the Suns, who then put Whitmore at the line with the clock showing 1:22.

2:58pm- Whitmore connected on the first of two at the stripe, making it 79-67. Carmen Sol then turned the ball over and Frantz Massenat '10—he has been quiet today, as other guards have picked up the scoring burden—went to the line with under 75 seconds left and missed the front end of a one-and-one.

2:59pm- A Rafael Rivera deuce has made it a 10-point game with about a minute to go.

3:01pm- After two free throws by Whitmore, Acevedo scored to make it 81-71. Lewis El then dropped in two free throw, putting TCA up by a dozen with about 30 seconds left.

3:02pm- This one is in the books, and Trenton Catholic has a hard-fought 83-73 win, int what was a fantastic, well-played game by both sides.

3:03pm- The MVPs—they are giving two for each team—for Carmen Sol were Raymond Cintron, who had 23 points, nailing five threes, and Xavier Zambrana, who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Reggie Coleman had 16 points, hitting four threes, en route to MVP honors for Trenton Catholic, while Markese Tucker was also named MVP, dropping 17 points.

3:24pm- I caught up with Raymond Cintron after the game.

9:47pm- I spoke with Markese Tucker later in the day.