Collierville stuns Bartlett in District 15-4A semifinals
The Collierville bench emptied, hands raised, screaming, high-fiving and cheering its historic win.
Shawn Taggart needed another moment to calm himself after the buzzer sounded and talking with his team after the game. His smile stretched from ear to ear as he talked about why Saturday’s District 15-4A win over Bartlett, 57-54, wasn’t just another win for the Dragons.
It was a win that not only ended Bartlett’s five-year run as district champions and ended an eight-year drought against the Panthers.
It was THE win of the season for Collierville.
“Just knowing who Bartlett is and them being a big team in our city, that was a statement game,” said senior guard T.J. Mcneal, who finished with 20 points in the win. “... It feels great. It feels amazing.”
Taggart knew coming into the District 15-4A semifinals as the host site, the Dragons were still an underdog. They hadn’t beat Bartlett since the 2014-15 season and the Panthers (22-9) had lost just one game, to Houston, since Jan. 13 at the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions.
That didn’t deter the Dragons (16-12) from taking down one of the area’s top teams.
And it started in the third quarter. After Bartlett took a 32-23 lead into halftime, the Dragons outscored Bartlett 20-8 in the third quarter to get the first lead of their first lead of the game.
Alex Vandenbergh and Mcneal took over from there. Vandenbergh finished with 16 points.
What makes the win even better for Collierville is it might be the spark the Dragons need to win a district title. Entering the district tournament, Collierville won just three of the final 12 games, including a four-game losing streak.
“We weren’t playing well at all,” Taggart said of the mid-season lull. “We had to get in the gym, we had to lock in and just be real with ourselves.”
Yet, their confidence was still high with Bartlett next on the schedule. Even with just Mcneal and Vandenbergh as the two main pieces returning from last year’s team that reached the Region 8-4A semifinals, the Dragons were able to pull off the upset.
Even when very few believed they could take down Bartlett, they believed in themselves.
“We knew this game would mean a lot, so we had to get it done,” Mcneal said.
Reach Wynston Wilcox at wwilcox@gannett.com and on Twitter @wynstonw__.