4A District 15 Tournament: Germantown and Southwind advance

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>No. 3 seed Southwind protected its home court Friday afternoon, defeating No. 6 seed Cordova and will face No. 2 seed Houston in the semifinals round of the 4A District 15 Tournament Saturday evening.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the evening game, No. 5 seed Germantown defeated No. 4 seed Arlington, 50-43, on the road and will face top seed Bartlett Saturday afternoon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are 3 quick notes from the Red Devils' win over the Tigers:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Great start for Hall</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1547248' first='Devin' last='Hall'] got off to a great start for Germantown. The 6-foot-0 combo guard scored 10 of the Red Devils' 18 points in the first quarter. Right out of the gate, Hall was in attack mode, taking his defender off the dribble before rising up for jump shots. He converted on two 3-pointers in the first quarter, with each shot he made ending in celebration in the direction of the student section. Hall mustered only four more points in the second half, with two points coming off a floater late in the fourth quarter that gave Germantown a 47-43 cushion with 34.2 seconds to go.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Quick momentum swing</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Arlington's freshman forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2784747' first='Rod' last='Lucas']</strong> banked in a 3-pointer as time expired in the third quarter. After the shot fell in, Lucas kept his shooting pose intact as he made eye contact with the home crowd. It was a solid third quarter for the freshman as Lucas scored 8 straight points early on that gave the Tigers a 35-29 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lucas led the team with 19.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Arlington's momentum and lead quickly vanished when the Red Devils went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 37-all. A score by senior guard <strong>Dallas Berkley</strong> gave Germantown the lead for the rest of the way. Berkley's two late free throws gave the Red Devils a 49-43 lead. Berkley finished with 11 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What's next for the Tigers?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was a solid season for Arlington. The Tigers finished the regular season 16-8 (6-6 in 4A District 15). Lucas has a full season of varsity basketball under his belt. He should improve heading into year two. Guard [player_tooltip player_id='2624485' first='RJ' last='Tate'] was a consistent scoring weapon for Arlington on a nightly basis. Tate and Lucas are a solid 1-2 punch and could be one of the best duos in the district next season. The Tigers should be a top 4 team in the district next season. Adding another scoring weapon could bolt Arlington into real contenders in 2025.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->