In a battle of top-five teams, No. 1-ranked Southern-Baltimore cruised past No. 3 Aberdeen, 65-49, in the finale of the Mayor's Basketball Academy boys tournament last night at Coppin Center.
Damien Spence scored 16 points to lead the Bulldogs, and All-Metro guard Melvin Scott contributed 13. Gary Neal led all scorers with 23 for Aberdeen (11-3).
The Bulldogs (11-3) never trailed as they picked up a second straight victory after losing at home Tuesday to rival Dunbar.
"We came out and played together," Scott said. "We understood that if we didn't the share the ball, we'd have to share the loss."
Southern assumed command early, leading 25-9, before the Eagles made their only run of the evening, outscoring the Bulldogs 13-4 to close within 29-22 with 1:09 remaining in the first half.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with baskets by Darshan Luckey (12 points) and Shawn Brown to push the lead back to double digits. They would lead by as many as 22 points.
Spingarn-D.C. 65, No. 2 Walbrook 55: After two previous losses to Baltimore teams, the Green Wave (14-5) finally got it right, knocking off the Warriors (13-2).
Ranked No. 6 in the Washington area, Spingarn rode the three-point shooting of senior guard Shawn Wiggins, who made seven of them on his way to a game-high 24 points.
Jamal Booker scored 16 points to lead the Warriors, and All-City/County performer Daevon Haskins contributed 11, but for the second straight game, poor shooting and overall sloppy play were costly, as the West Baltimore school likely missed a chance to the claim the Baltimore area's top ranking.
"We didn't play well. For some reason, we're just flat," said Walbrook coach Kelvin Bridges, whose team fell to 13-2. "We haven't been able to shoot the ball."
The Warriors, who rallied past Dunbar of D.C. on Friday, were miserable in the final quarter yesterday. They connected on only three of 20 attempts and had six turnovers.
The 6-foot-3 Wiggins put on a clinic in the third quarter, hitting four three-pointers to help the Green Wave to a 46-39 advantage entering the fourth period.
His final three-pointer with 5:42 left gave Spingarn its largest lead of the second half, 51-43.
Walbrook was down 57-53 after a layup by Haskins with 1:20 remaining, but the team wouldn't score again, missing its last six shots from the perimeter.
No. 7 Dunbar 94, Ballou-D.C. 68: Senior guard Kenny Minor scored 25 points for the Poets, who capped a tremendous week -- which already included victories over Southern-Baltimore and Aberdeen -- to raise their record to 13-1.
Minor scored 14 in the third quarter for the Poets, who led 44-24 at halftime. Steve Miller contributed 20 and Jujuan Robinson had 14.
"It's finally over," Dunbar coach Eric Lee said of his team's week. "We're looking forward to getting back to league play. Kenny Minor played great, but this was a great team effort."
No. 9 Lake Clifton 57, Dunbar-D.C. 54: Getting a game-high 23 points from senior Antonio Regis and 14 from Aaron Cook, the Lakers (10-3) held off the Crimson Tide (9-7).
Dunbar had an opportunity to tie the score, but LaKeith Blanks (12 points) missed a three-pointer at the final buzzer.
No. 17 Douglass 77, Northwestern 49: Sophomore forward Gerald Brown scored a game-high 22 points and Hubert Coleman contributed 19, lifting the Ducks (9-3) past the Wildcats.
Douglass entered the fourth quarter with a 46-39 advantage, then turned the game into a rout by outscoring Northwestern 31-10.