South Side moves to front of District 12-3A

South Side basketball had a heavyweight fight on the road Friday night when the Hawks went to North Side.

The Hawks went into the game ranked No. 4 in the state in Class 3A by the Tennessee Sports Writers’ Association.

The Indians went in ranked fifth.

People began showing up for the game at North Side during the junior varsity game, that happened before the girls’ game that ended in a rout in favor of the Lady Hawks.

By the time the girls’ game ended, the gym was packed with the anticipation of the game it turned out to be.

South Side won by eight, but the game was closer throughout.

“We are very, very fortunate to come out of here with a victory,” said South Side head coach DaMonn Fuller. “North Side has a great team, and this is the biggest win of the year for us so far.

“It’s a district game. It’s a rivalry in the city. So it’s important for both of those reasons, but also, if we want to develop as a team and get better, we’ve got to play well against quality teams. North Side is one of the best teams we’ve seen or will see this year, and we get them at least one more time at our house.”

Not everything went well for the Hawks in this matchup.

The Hawks did shoot the ball well, taking their time on offense and looking for open opportunities from high-percentage spots on the court.

But unofficial stats had South Side with 16 turnovers at halftime. That stat would improve with only two in the third quarter, but with the way the Hawks were shooting, they hurt their own ability to possibly pull away as North Side hit 9-of-34 from the field in the first two quarters.

“I think a lot of that had to do with the pace of the game as North Side did a good job of pushing us early on and getting us out of our rhythm,” Fuller said. “When we’re in practice, I’m stopping them a lot to take a minute to teach things they need to learn, so they don’t really have a chance to practice in a good flow up and down the court like that.

“So that may be on me more than anybody on the court tonight.”

South Side trailed a couple of times early on, but other than that, the Hawks held the lead for most of the game except for a couple of times when North Side tied the game. But the Indians stayed within six points throughout the first three quarters.

What helped the Hawks pull away late were five steals on five straight North Side possessions that the Hawks turned into at least one point on all of those ensuing possessions.

“We tell our guys to keep hustling and keep playing, and if you play smart, eventually good things will happen,” Fuller said. “It took nearly the entire game, but that’s what happened because our guys did a good job of being where they needed to be and getting in the passing lanes and disrupting their offense.”

The loss is North Side’s first in District 12-3A play as they have a record of 3-1. South Side is 4-0 nearly halfway through the district schedule.

“We’ve had a good run so far in district play, but we’ve got to keep it up and we need everybody working hard,” Fuller said. “After everyone gets their first shot at you, then they’re better prepared to play you the second time, so we’ve got to be aware of that while not getting away from what we do as we go through the second round against everybody.

“But either way, both teams got better tonight, and that’s my main focus for us. I want us to win, but I also want us to get better and better as the season progresses.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news