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The 1997 Shepherd Showdown Cold temperatures and upsets were the theme of this year's tournament. Eight, very talented teams had a shot at the title with some surprisingly close games that made for one of the most competitive Showdowns ever! The eight teams were separated into 2 pools. Pool A consisted of Tampa, Lakeshore, South Florida, and New York. Over in pool B, teams from Tennessee, Atlanta, Colorado, and San Antonio rounded out the field. Although pool play is usually predictable and uneventful, this tournament's early action produced some of the closest games of the weekend. The Atlanta Rolling Thunder used their home court advantage to easily capture first in Pool B by beating Colorado (43-23), San Antonio (42-26) and Tennessee (39-19). The Tennessee squad was hampered by the absence of two key members from last year's squad, Cliff Chunn and Lee Moore. The surprising South Florida Rattlers, led by 3.5
Emeison "Mason" Calle, upset the Lakeshore
squad. Even though the Demolition took command early and
led 18-16 at the half, South Florida's Calle turned it on
in the third quarter and forced several Lakeshore
turnovers. The Rattlers took a 28-25 lead going into the
final period. The Alabama team fought back and cut the
lead to 32-30 The Tampa Generals were cruising in their pool as they beat New York (32-16) and South Florida (46-27). Then, they faced off against the Lakeshore Demolition. Lakeshore's tough key defense forced several mistakes by Tampa, who were running their usually reliable half court offense. The Alabama squad took an 8-5 lead after 1 quarter. Tampa's experienced duo of Joe Soares and Dave Gould were nearly flawless in the second quarter as they battled back and tied the game before the half ended. The second half was a war! The teams traded goals throughout the half until late in the 4th quarter. With the score tied and only 5 seconds left in the game, Tampa's Dave Gould fed Darren Ransome(2.0) in the post who appeared to score the winning goal. However, Lakeshore's center man, Bryan Kirkland, forced Ransome in and out that disallowed the goal and the game went into overtime. In the extra period, the Demolition took control early, winning the tip and drawing a foul on coach/player Soares. The teams traded goals until Lakeshore's key defense forced another Tampa miscue. They took advantage of the turnover and gained a two goal lead. Tampa would get no closer and was upset 30-28. "This is a big win for us," said Lakeshore coach, Kevin Orr who added "we need wins like this to prove we are a top team!" A distraught Dave Gould stated "They played a near perfect game while we came out flat and they were on fire." Pool A ended with a three-way tie, as the Rattlers and
Lakeshore both beat the New York team that was missing
3.5 Angelo Mongiovi. By virtue of the tie breaker, Tampa
placed 1st, Lakeshore 2nd and the Rattlers ended up 3rd
in pool play. Another surprising team at the tournament
was the Colorado Highlanders. They began pool play with a
narrow 35-34 win over San Antonio and were shellacked by
Atlanta (43-23). They knew that with a win over the
defending Shepherd Showdown Champion Tennessee team, they
would clinch 2nd in pool B. They came out fired up and
scored the game's first 3 goals! The depleted Tennessee
team was having trouble matching the speed of the
Highlanders, something they were not accustomed to.
Colorado took a 21-18 half-time lead and was able to
maintain it for a 35-31 victory and second place in pool
B. Tennessee finished 3rd in the In the crossover games, it would be Tampa against
Colorado and Atlanta against Lakeshore. The winners would
meet in the finals on Sunday. Tampa cruised in its
crossover defeating Colorado 36-18. D This home-town win set up a much-anticipated match up of Tampa-Atlanta in the Championship game with three other highly competitive placing games. In the 7th-8th place game, San Antonio defeated New York 38-24. South Florida outbattled Tennessee 48-44 to take 5th place. In the 3rd place game, the upset-minded Colorado Highlanders and Lakeshore Demolition faced off. Lakeshore struggled early, on the heels of their big win over Tampa. "We didn't have the intensity," said coach Kevin Orr. But Colorado did! They took a half-time lead and couldn't be slowed. They went on to their second upset of the tournament and the third place trophy. The stands were filled as the home team took the floor
for the championship game. The crowd roared as AC/DC 's
"Thunder Struck" boomed through the gym's PA
system. The Generals were Congratulations to the all-tournament team of Eddie Crouch (.5), Joby Falk (1-1.5), Curtis Palmer and Bryan Kirkland (2-2.5), Joe Soares (3-3.5), and Emeison Calle as the Tournament MVP. Everyone is looking forward to another great tournament next year. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and be a bit warmer!
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with
4:16 left in the game. However, Lakeshore's press
couldn't contain the speedy Calle and they were outscored
7-4 in the final four minutes to lose by 5 (39-34). 
espite
their earlier loss, the Generals were now in the final.
The other crossover was a defensive struggle. Atlanta,
utilizing their team speed, were led by Mark Zupan and
Curtis Palmer and played a pressing defense. Lakeshore
was in their patented half court D. The teams traded
goals in the first quarter and it ended in an 8-8 tie. It
remained tied until Atlanta's press forced a late, second
period turnover which gave them a narrow 14-12 lead at
the half. In the third quarter, Lakeshore's stingy
defense allowed them to tie the game at 15 with four
minutes left. However, Atlanta's defense responded and
they regained an 18-16 edge after 3 quarters. Lakeshore
could not match the defensive intensity of the Rolling
Thunder in the fourth and were eventually defeated 25-21.
ready for a war and
they have plenty of experience playing in front of
hostile crowds! The gym exploded as Atlanta won the tip
and scored the game's first goal. Tampa responded with a
tying goal. The contest remained close throughout the
first half. Neither team could gain a decisive advantage.
In the second half, Atlanta stepped up its defense,
forcing four Tampa time-outs and a 5th one that resulted
in a technical foul. Tampa's defense also responded by
causing several second half turnovers. The game was still
up for grabs late in the 4th period when Tampa scored a
goal to go up by 1. On the inbound, the Generals forced
the issue and Darren Ransome was able to get a held ball.
With the possession arrow pointed in Tampa's favor, that
key play resulted in a turnover! The Generals were able
to run out the clock and win the Championship 28-27.