3 observations from Bartlett’s win over Houston

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bartlett (15-1) defeated Houston (11-7), 62-50, Tuesday night to improve to 3-0 in district play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are 3 observations from the Panthers' win over the Mustangs:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1236529' first='Christian' last='Alston'] was in rhythm</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior wing <strong>Christian</strong> <strong>Alston</strong> had a strong showing Tuesday night, scoring 14 of his game-high 25 points in the first half. The 6-foot-5 wing didn't have an issue getting great looks at the basket. Alston mainly lived in the paint, knocking down floaters over each defender Houston threw at him. The Abilene Christian commit knocked down shots from the perimeter throughout the contest as the Mustangs didn't have an answer to stop him. Alston hit a sweet mid-range jumper from the left elbow in the fourth quarter that pushed Bartlett's lead to 46-33. He also had a couple of dunks in transition. It was that kind of night for the Panthers' best perimeter player.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Bartlett Way</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bartlett's togetherness on the court was too much for Houston. Each quick shot the Mustangs took and missed, along with the turnovers, the Panthers scored off of them. Bartlett lived in transition most of the night, getting easy scores at the rim. The Panthers' ball movement was excellent as the ball was swinging to every angle of the floor until a quality shot was available. That was the difference for Bartlett, which flexed its muscles in the second half by outscoring Houston 12-2 in the final 5:08 to go up 33-17 at the break.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When the Panthers is the more physical team on the court and can make their opponent turn the basketball over at a high rate, Bartlett will win that battle most nights.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Balanced scoring</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Panthers had six to score in double figures. Junior point guard <strong>KJ</strong> <strong>Neville</strong> was the other double-digit scorer for Bartlett, finishing the night with 12 points. In the fourth quarter, the Mustangs cut their deficit to 41-33 after a made jumper by junior guard <strong>Kaleb</strong> <strong>Jeffries</strong>. Neville made a 3 from the left wing then converted on a 3-point play two possessions later to give the Panthers a comfortable 54-37 lead. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->