4A District 15 Tourney Final: Bartlett edges out Cordova

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bartlett defeated Cordova, 65-59, to win this season's TSSAA Division 1 Class 4A District 15 Tournament Championship. It's the Panthers' fifth district tournament title in the past seven seasons. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the win, Bartlett locks up a No. 1 seed in the TSSAA Division 1 Class 4A Region 8 Tournament. The Panthers will host the loser of White Station/Memphis East (4A District 16 Tournament consolation game) this Saturday, while the Wolfpack will host the winner of the contest.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the earlier game, Southwind edged out Houston and has locked up the No. 3 seed. The Jaguars will play the loser of Whitehaven/Memphis Central on the road. The 4A District 16 Tournament champion will host the Mustangs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are 3 observations from Bartlett's district title win:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Big shot DJ</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Panthers trailed 20-12 early in the second quarter. Senior wing <strong>Christian</strong> <strong>Alston</strong> (12 points) went to the bench after picking up his third foul. Bartlett was in need of some offense. Then, senior guard <strong>DJ</strong> <strong>McIntyre</strong> appeared. He scored four quick points. McIntyre, then, made two big 3s to help the Panthers outscore Cordova 15-5 to go into halftime up 34-27.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Freed-Hardeman commit converted on another 3 in the third quarter and went 3 for 4 from the free throw line. McIntyre finished with 18 points and answered the bell when it looked like Bartlett was on the verge of crumbling.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Remaining confident</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior point guard <strong>KJ</strong> <strong>Neville</strong> was left wide open in the Panthers' semifinals matchup against Southwind. That's because a number of teams Bartlett has faced this season don't see Neville as a threat from the perimeter. Luckily for the Panthers, it wasn't a confidence killer for their starting point guard. On Tuesday night, the 6-foot-0 point guard made two 3s in the second quarter, with one being a bank shot. It was Neville's only 3-point attempts of the contest, but both made shots proved to be huge for the Panthers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>”That Southwind game was bad, but before practice, I came an hour early and started shooting,” said Neville, who got a clean strip on Wolfpack's starting point guard Emerson Tenner before finding [player_tooltip player_id='2147208' first='R'Chaun' last='King'] on the break for the one-handed slam before halftime. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>”It showed today.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Scratching for the win</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bartlett did a great job of crashing the boards Tuesday night. The Panthers got a lot of second-chance opportunities. [player_tooltip player_id='2147208' first='<strong>R'Chaun</strong>' last='<strong>King</strong>'] was a handful in the post. His upper body strength allowed him a plethora of second-chance opportunities. King led Bartlett with 23 points and went 9 for 14 from the free throw line. Alston got a much-needed offensive rebound and putback late in the fourth quarter to give the Panthers a six-point lead. Junior Bryson Johnson got a steal and a layup in the second half. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bartlett knew it had to scratch, claw, and out tough Cordova to pull out the win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>”It shows our grit and determination,” Neville said. “We came out, we knew we, like, almost had to play a perfect game. We had to take very possession serious. That's what we didn't do the last time. Today, we came out locked in and took every possession serious.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All-Tournament Team</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Justin</strong> <strong>Edwards</strong> (Southwind), <strong>Emerson</strong> <strong>Tenner</strong> (Cordova), <strong>Julius</strong> <strong>Thedford</strong> (Cordova), <strong>Jay</strong> <strong>Tyler</strong> (Cordova), <strong>DJ</strong> <strong>McIntyre</strong> (Bartlett), <strong>Christian</strong> <strong>Alston</strong> (Bartlett), <strong>KJ</strong> <strong>Neville</strong> (Bartlett), <strong>Jordan</strong> <strong>Myles</strong> (Houston), and <strong>R'Chaun</strong> <strong>King</strong> (MVP) were named to the 4A District 15 All-Tournament Team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thedford led the Wolfpack with 33 points. Tenner added 17.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->