Five Themes: Clinton-South Side

<p>Clinton and South Side, two of the three best teams in 3A met Wednesday morning in a riveting State Quarterfinal matchup.  Who prevailed and why?</p> <p>South Side won 52-47 and these five themes reveal why.</p> <h3>The South Side Pressure Versus Clinton’s Guards</h3> <p>Clinton was one of the first teams in the last two years to handle South Side’s unrelenting, scrambled pressure.  Trace Thackerson, the primary ball-handler did a wonderful job of escaping traps and pressure primarily with the pass.  [player_tooltip player_id="1176630" first="Jackson" last="Garner"] committed a few more turnovers (4 in the first 3Q), but he also did an admirable job avoiding the typical pitfalls created by the South Side Hawks.</p> <p>Until the final few minutes.</p> <h3>Sain II</h3> <p>Mr. Basketball Finalist [player_tooltip player_id="1179286" first="Rico" last="Sain II"] did rattle a few cages, darting around the court.  He collected four steals in the first three quarters and finished several fastbreak points as a result.  His 15 points in his first 25 minutes set the tone.  When the refs rightfully whistled Sain for a reach on Thackerson midway through the fourth quarter, there was a blemish on his elite poking record. </p> <h3>Guarding Garner</h3> <p>The primary challenge when playing Clinton is guarding, or attempting to guard, [player_tooltip player_id="1176630" first="Jackson" last="Garner"].  Jackson South Side did ok.  They typically played either a 2-3 zone, or face-guarded him.  Garner was difficult to keep from shooting, but the shots did often have hands in his face.  Garner needed a lot of effort to carve out legitimate opportunities.  While he did figure it out, he was less efficient than usual and credit the defense with challenging him. The senior guard made 7 of his first 16 shots, a decent figure.  </p> <h3>Free Throw Concerns</h3> <p>South Side’s free throws were terrible. They shot 9-22 (40.9%) and were lucky to win with such an appalling figure.  Clinton’s turnovers certainly made helped the Hawks avoid the typical fate for such errant shooting.  The faskbreak points, as spearheaded by Sain II and [player_tooltip player_id="1008281" first="Kobe" last="Ward"] absolutely absolved the Hawks.</p> <p>https://twitter.com/PrepHoopsTN/status/1504125963189293058?s=20&amp;t=uUVPCbmNPFZD5Sqlchn0jQ</p> <h3>Lane-Owner Harrison</h3> <p>Lane Harrison’s dominance in the paint was special.  Harrison made sharp cuts behind the defense and effectively capitalized.  He scored 62% from the field heading into the final three minutes of action.  Harrison’s length helped him finish, but the cuts took savvy and smarts.  Facing a team like the Hawks, these types of cuts are certainly effective because South Side jumps the passing lanes constantly.  This makes them more susceptible to backdoor passes than most teams and Lane rightfully took major advantage.</p>