Towns Drops 25 as Southwind Advances; 5 Recruits Who Shined

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Southwind Jaguars defeated the Arlington Tigers, 59-50, in the opening round of the TSSAA Division 1 Class 4A Region 8 Tournament. Southwind will play No. 1 seed Bartlett on Tuesday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are 3 observations from the Jaguars' win:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2291144' first='Cassius' last='Vaughn']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The junior guard needed to find a groove offensively after not doing so for most of the season. Vaughn found his groove at the right time, with his team facing elimination. Arlington jumped out to a 21-11 lead, then Southwind turned up its defense, got key stops, and went on a 13-0 run to take a 32-28 lead at the break. Vaughn played a big part in that. He was scrappy on defense, attacked the rim, and was one of the Jaguars' guards head coach Paul Edwards could trust to make a play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Vaughn extended the team's run to 16-0 in the third quarter by scoring the team's first 5 points. He made another 3 in the fourth quarter to finish the night with 14. Vaughn's energy on both ends of the floor was needed. His offensive spark excited the team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Vaughn's performance allows this team to play, at least, one more game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1760995' first='Ronald' last='Towns III']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The senior guard led Southwind with 25 points, but his most important points came late in the 4th quarter when the Tigers made a late push. [player_tooltip player_id='2624485' first='RJ' last='Tate'] made a 3 then [player_tooltip player_id='2413439' first='Jayden' last='Jordan-James'] got a putback to get Arlington within two. Up 55-50, Towns scored on back-to-back possessions in transition to seal the win with under a minute to go.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Defensive effort</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Jaguars turned up their defensive effort before halftime. Southwind knew it was a do or die game, so the Jaguars played with a sense of urgency. Southwind - whether it was [player_tooltip player_id='1591000' first='Monterrio' last='Cox'], Jordan Chaffin, or [player_tooltip player_id='2364371' first='Justin' last='Edwards'] - forced Tate into some tough shots. The Jaguars didn't have a choice but to make things difficult for Tate, who was a 4A District 15 First-Team selection this season. The junior guard led his team with 17.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Southwind also did a good job on Jordan-James, refusing to give him any space to get great looks from 3. He finished with night with 8.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Looking to Tuesday</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Jaguars will play Bartlett, which has been the best team in Class 4A this season, for a spot in the 4A Region 8 Tournament championship game. Southwind can't afford to get off to a slow start like it did against the Tigers. The Jaguars can't afford to have a lot of turnovers. Southwind has to keep the rebounds close. Senior big man [player_tooltip player_id='3229704' first='Kris' last='Smith'] and junior big man Z Ratliff will have to stay out of foul trouble and be physical with the size the Panthers present with [player_tooltip player_id='2083148' first='Axton' last='Perry'], [player_tooltip player_id='2291122' first='Dylan' last='Jones'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2194617' first='DJ' last='Okoth']. All 3 guys are going to go after rebounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the offensive side, all 3 guys are going to attack the rim.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bartlett loves to pick up 94 feet. Cox, Vaughn, and Edwards can't allow the Panthers' press to rattle them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bartlett can turn turnovers into points. The Panthers can run a team out of the gym if they're able to get in transition. When Bartlett dominants the boards, it's unbeatable.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>No. 1 Whitehaven and No. 2 Houston will play in the other semifinals matchup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->