Slocum looks good in playoff debut

The Slocum Mustangs looked really sharp in their playoff debut Thursday night against Roxton in Tyler.
The Mustangs defeated Roxton 63-46 and it could have been much worse than that. Slocum had as much as a 37-point lead in the third quarter before going to the bench in the fourth quarter where many of the Mustang junior varsity players got their first taste of playoff experience.
The Slocum starters dominated on both sides of the court for the first three quarters. Not sure which was more impressive, the way they ran the offense flawlessly or the way they played defense, holding Roxton to 22 points in the first three quarters.
I have not seen Slocum since early in the season and I liked how they can spread out the offense production. Last year much of the offense went through Jared Lane, and that is how it should be with how good of a scorer he was. But this year, it is impressive to watch how Slocum has transitioned from relying on Lane to having several players who have the ability to score.
On defense, it was impressive to see how the Mustangs handled Roxton's leading scorer Alex Stephenson, who was held scoreless for the first three quarters and only had eight points for the game. Slocum swarmed Stephenson most of the night with double teams and traps and their tam defense was so good that they never seemed to leave a man open even when putting two players going at Stephenson.
If they continue to play like they did Thursday night, the Mustangs are strong contenders to defend their state title.