5 takeaways from Bartlett’s road win at Ridgeway
Ridgeway held its own for three quarters against Bartlett, but the same wasn’t said once the fourth quarter started.
The Panthers’ seniors (Jalen Cincore, Sylvester Thompson, and Antavion Collum) delivered the knockout punch that was needed to keep the Roadrunners from stealing a win at home. Collum had 24, Cincore provided 21, and Thompson added 17 as Bartlett (1-0) used a strong fourth quarter outing to defeat Ridgeway (0-1) 83-70 Thursday night, despite the 15 turnovers.
“I’m going to give us a C,” the letter grade head coach Dion Real gave his team for its performance.
The Panthers gave up four offensive rebounds in the first quarter, and gave their opponent opportunities to go to the free throw line. Bartlett is lucky Wes Henning’s team couldn’t take advantage of the fouls that were called.
Tyler Carpenter drained a 3 from the corner to give the Panthers a 53-45 lead midway through the third quarter. Thompson scored Bartlett’s final five points of the quarter for the 58-51 edge. Yet, the Roadrunners wouldn’t go away.
A basket by Kendall Thomas cut Ridgeway’s deficit to five, then Willie Wilson’s two foul shots made it 59-55. After that, the trio of Collum, Thompson, and Cincore took over. Those three scored the Panthers’ next 10 points to build a 69-55 lead. The 10-0 run was highlighted by Collum’s pass-dunk to himself off the backboard.
“It helps to have good players,” a smiling Real said.
Before the pivotal run, the Roadrunners were neck-to-neck with Bartlett. Both teams were tied 35-all at halftime. Collum and Thompson scored the first four points of the third quarter to grab a 39-35 lead. Ridgeway’s forward Willie Wilson scored, then guard Jordan Jackson knocked down the long ball to take a one-point lead.
Collum made one of two foul shots to tie the game at 40. Wynne Brown scored on the Panthers’ next possession to give them the lead for good. Wilson led the Roadrunners with 16. Jackson added 11, and Travis Dockery provided 10.
3-point shooting
Bartlett made only 2 3s – out of 21 attempts – against Ridgeway, even though the Panthers had nice looks at the basket. Both 3s were made in transition. The Roadrunners made two treys as well. It was a rough shooting night for both teams.
Free throw shooting
The Panthers went 18 for 33 from the free throw line. Add the missed opportunities from deep with the missed opportunities from the charity stripe, Bartlett could have ran away with the game way before the fourth quarter arrived.
Leadership
The presence of Collum, Thompson, and Cincore helped the Panthers get over the hump in the fourth quarter and bury Ridgeway. Cincore had a good night at the free throw line, making 6 of 8 shots. Thompson went 5 of 10. Collum, an Ole Miss commit, just made important shots when needed.
Scoring drought
Ridgeway went almost three minutes without scoring a basket during Bartlett’s 10-0 run. The Roadrunners head coach, Wes Henning, called a timeout to try to stop the bleeding, but the damage was already done. Outside of Wilson, who was aggressive from the start, Ridgeway had a hard time scoring the basketball, especially when the game was in reach.
Improving from the line
Collum went 2 of 6 from the free throw line. He’s a special talent, but he needs to improve on his free throw shooting. There may come a time this season when free throw shots could decide a game.