'We’re not done yet': Bartlett basketball defeats Cordova TSSAA region championship

Christian Alston had the ball on the wing and was looking for a play to extend Bartlett’s lead late over Cordova in Thursday’s Region 8-4A championship game.  

Alston passed to junior point guard KJ Neville and cut to the basket. Neville dribbled down the left sideline and threw a lob pass to Alston, who finished the alley-oop with a one-handed slam.  

The play helped Bartlett build a 7-0 run late and the Panthers cruised to a 67-51 win over Cordova on Thursday night to win the program’s first Region 8-4A title in two seaons.

"It’s unexplainable how it feels to get back to this point,” said Alston, who finished with 22 points. “But we’re not done yet.” 

Bartlett dominated the second half, outscoring Cordova 52-23 in the win. The Panthers played like a team that was motivated. They saw how quickly their season could have been over in their dramatic win over Memphis Central in the Region 8-4A semifinals Tuesday night.  

It brought back an all-too-familiar feeling from last season’s exit in the TSSAA basketball quarterfinals.  

"Every single day, that’s been our motto,” Bartlett coach Dion Real said. “Every day, we’ve got to show up.” 

Here’s what we learned from Bartlett’s Region 8-4A championship.  

Bartlett learned from 2023 TSSAA basketball state tournament

The Panthers said they weren’t locked in like they wanted to be in the semifinals game. But when their season was in flux, they made the play. They didn’t need any magic on Thursday, they just needed to play their game.  

"We got reminded that this is tournament basketball,” said Neville, who was named region tournament MVP. “We had to go back to our standards.” 

The difference this year is the team playing with attitude, energy, effort and discipline, Neville added. He said that’s why this year’s team was able to reach the sectional round. And it will be the reason the Panthers can continue to have success. 

Bartlett has a fresh outlook entering TSSAA basketball sectional game 

It’s always tough getting out of the West region. But with Bartlett’s win, it proved it has what it takes to get out of Memphis, which is arguably the toughest part of getting to the state tournament.  

And they have a rejuvenated mindset going into Monday’s game against Dickson County.   

Determined to get to TSSAA boys basketball state tournament

Bartlett has had its mind on a return to the state tournament after missing last season. Last time the Panthers were in Murfreesboro, they lost at the buzzer to eventual state champion Dobyns-Bennett. 

Alston was on that team that came up short in the state semifinals. His only goal that loss to get back before he graduated.  

He proved he’s ready to put on a show in Murfreesboro.  

"I really wanted to get back there and I know this team, we can make it and win it all,” Alston said. 

Reach Wynston Wilcox at wwilcox@gannett.com and on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @wynstonw__.