4A District 15 Tourney Final: Bartlett edges out Cordova
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. With the win, Bartlett locks up a No. 1 seed in…
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Continue ReadingBartlett 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.
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.
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.
Here are 3 observations from Bartlett’s district title win:
Big shot DJ
The Panthers trailed 20-12 early in the second quarter. Senior wing Christian Alston (12 points) went to the bench after picking up his third foul. Bartlett was in need of some offense. Then, senior guard DJ McIntyre 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.
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.
Remaining confident
Junior point guard KJ Neville 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.
”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 R’Chaun King R’Chaun King 6'6" | PF Bartlett | 2024 State TN on the break for the one-handed slam before halftime.
”It showed today.”
Scratching for the win
Bartlett did a great job of crashing the boards Tuesday night. The Panthers got a lot of second-chance opportunities. R’Chaun King R’Chaun King 6'6" | PF Bartlett | 2024 State TN 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.
Bartlett knew it had to scratch, claw, and out tough Cordova to pull out the win.
”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.”
All-Tournament Team
Justin Edwards (Southwind), Emerson Tenner (Cordova), Julius Thedford (Cordova), Jay Tyler (Cordova), DJ McIntyre (Bartlett), Christian Alston (Bartlett), KJ Neville (Bartlett), Jordan Myles (Houston), and R’Chaun King (MVP) were named to the 4A District 15 All-Tournament Team.
Thedford led the Wolfpack with 33 points. Tenner added 17.