Nevermind that it was a consolation game. If you were lucky, it will be one of those games you remember for the rest of your life. After a lackluster first half from the boys in red, white and blue, Team USA Midwest and FMP Serbia gave the fans a gem of a game as Harrison Barnes went off for 36 of his 46 points in second half points to give his team a 103-94 overtime win. Coupled with Team USA West South's win over Team Asia, it sets up nicely for a 4pm game for Fourth Place that pits a re-energizedTerrance Jones team against Barnes. The Final will be a North American affair as Team USA East and Canada will play for the Championship at 8pm at Liberty High School.

There is something about the Serbian teams that bring out the best in the USA teams at the Showcase.  Both USA Midwest and FMP Serbia played like zombies on Friday in losing efforts. You know, those goofy slow mumbling zombies that walk like Frankenstein and not the new breed of super cat quick freaky scary ones mind you.  On Saturday both teams finally morphed back to true form. Early in the contest, Serbia was getting the best of the American squad as 6'8 Stamenkovi Svetozar was scoring all over the court enroute to 49-41 halftime lead. Svetozar hit all four of his three pointers and had 19 points at the half and I'd written notes such as 'poor defense and Harrison Barnes just 'okay' on this night. The Midwest team was shooting poorly and taking too many three pointers and not going to the basket. Ther Serbs were hitting 54% of their shots while the Midwest was a paltry 37% and looking still out of sync. Where it not for Cameron Clark's shooting touch and 15 points, it might have turned into a route.

The second half was showtime for the 6'6 Barnes. He was one of the best at the Showcase last year and this year he is even better. He absolutely took over this game. The NBA scouts in attendance are usually joking with each other and paying only mild attention but not this half. Driving the lane for a twisting banker or creating his own deep three point shot with a Serbian draped over him, Barnes scored at will. Though slighter in build, his style of play reminded me a lot of Brandon Roy's. His statline was awe inspiring. With his 46 points, he went 12-13 from the free throw line, led both teams in steals with four and also had 14 rebounds. Svetozar finished the night with 35 points and 14 rebounds. Team Midwest outscored FMP Serbia 13-4 in the overtime period.

USA West South 107  All Asia Camp 82: Jefferson's Terrence Jones shook off whatever was ailing him the past week to put in a more typical TJ Night with 22 points, five rebounds and four block as the American team got back to the winning track with a huge fourth quarter outscoring Asia 34-17 in the last stanza. Guard Kendall Marshall racked up 10 assists and forward C.J. Leslie chipped in 17 points while guard Anthony Drmic of Australia led Team Asia with 20 points.

Canada 89 Senegal 71: In the nights other semifinal, Canada continued to look like the most complete 'team" with good chemistry and a good mix of bigs and smalls to seize control against the talented but still unpolished Senegal team 89-71. Maurice Walker is a big body for Canada and he finished with a double-double. Meanwhile, Mangisto Arop, Canada's other post, had 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead everyone. Kyle Wiltjer from Jesuit continues to look comfortable for Team Canada as he again had a good shooting night around the basket and finishing with 10 points. 


Team USA East 89  Brazil 71- The secret to this USA team is their guard play. Both Kyrie Irving and Josh Selby are lightning quick point quards who understand penetrating to the basket is the key to success. If the other teams repect you, then dish off. If they don't respect you, take it too the basket. Brazil hung around until early in the fourth quarter when 6'7 Tobias Harris scored seven straight points to blow open a close game against the Brazilians to give USA a 71-61 lead early in the fourth quarter and East would roll on into the Championship. Team East played tough and phyiscal and like they were familiar with each others game. They attack the basket and have some chemistry the other two U.S. teams looked to be short on. The final tomorrow should be fun as both Team Canada and Team USA East are almost mirror images of each other.

Again, admission is just $5 and games start at 2pm at Liberty High School for the entire four games. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions here but someday there are going to be some lucky fans in five or six years who can boast the "I paid five bucks to watch Harrison Barnes score 46" line. The question for today's 4pm game that Barnes plays in will be if Jefferson's Terrence Jones shut him down?