Defense dominates as defending champ Slidell knocks off Jayton in 1A state semifinal
The UIL has since announced it has suspended the rest of the state tournament.
After Slidell won the Class 1A state title last season, snapping a 64-year state tournament drought, the No. 5 Greyhounds will have a chance to go back-to-back.
Slidell gave Jayton fits during a state-title rematch, holding the Jaybirds to 12 first-half points on its way to an impressive 45-28 victory in the 1A semis on Thursday at the Alamodome.
The Greyhounds (31-9) will play No. 1 LaRue LaPoynor (34-3) for the championship at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Slidell defeated Jayton 49-36 in the 2019 title tilt.
LaPoynor beat Nazareth in the other semifinal on Thursday.
“Felt like defense is the one stable we’ve done throughout the playoffs. Our pre-district was tough and it was hard to guard some of those teams, but we’re seeing the dividends of it now,” Slidell coach Casey Pierce said.
Aaron Hernandez dropped in one of his two first quarter three-pointers for No. 8 Jayton to give the Jaybirds a 6-5 lead with 4:41 left in the first quarter.
But Slidell clamped down on defense and the Jaybirds couldn’t hit a shot. Jayton went the next 8:58 without a basket in 10 attempts and turned the ball over five times..
By the time Tye Scogin, who led Jayton with nine points, hit a layup with 4:17 left before halftime, the Greyhounds had a 15-8 lead that stretched to 23-12 by intermission.
While Slidell was lighting it up from the field at 42.5% (17-40), led by 11 from Easton Vanover and 10 from Jaden Luttrell, Jayton was tanking.
“We’ve seen enough film of them, they can hit the perimeter shot and make a nine-point lead go extremely quick,” Pierce said. “We had to cap their runs and extend ours. It was a big deal.”
The Jaybirds shot a meager 19.5% (8-41) and committed 18 turnovers that led to 19 Greyhound points. Slidell dominated in the paint, outscoring Jayton 22-6.
“Our defense has been locked down for the most part since the playoffs started and it will have to be again Saturday,” Pierce said.
Slidell led by as much as 18 (36-18) in the third quarter. The Greyhounds’ largest lead (21 points) came with 1:12 left when a Tristyn Talamantes layup gave Slidell a 45-24 advantage.
Vanover hit three of five from 3-point range while Luttrell led the Greyhounds with a game-high nine rebounds. Slayton Pruett had team highs in assists (four) and blocks (five).
Tripp Scott had eight rebounds to lead Jayton while Scogin added seven rebounds, four assists and five steals.
“Kind of different than last year,” Pierce said. “We didn’t separate until the fourth quarter, but today we did in the second and was able to withstand their runs.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 12:54 PM.