West Forsyth boys, girls basketball teams continue to roll

Published 3:56 pm Saturday, January 6, 2024

CLEMMONS — The boys and girls basketball teams at West Forsyth went undefeated this week as Central Piedmont 4-A conference play resumed.

The West Forsyth boys improved to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in the conference after defeating Glenn 48-46 at home on Wednesday and then followed that with a 63-56 home win Friday night against Reagan.

As for the West Forsyth girls, they improved to 8-3 overall and 3-0 in the conference after defeating Glenn 40-29 on Wednesday and then defeated Reagan 42-35 on Friday night.

The boys returned from Christmas break, having gone 2-1 in the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic and also going 2-1 the week after Christmas at the Smoky Mountain Winter Classic in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

“I thought overall it was pretty good,” Coach Marlon Brim of the West Forsyth boys said. “I thought we played (Friday) West Forsyth basketball. I think we was kind of sluggish on Wednesday, and it could’ve been the first day back at school, kids there all day. So, we just didn’t play with a lot of energy like we did (Friday), but going to 2-0 is always good in conference.”

Against Glenn, late in the game, Jacari Brim, Brim’s son, hit a 3-pointer to tie the game. West Forsyth added a steal and a layup to win by two points.

“Any win in conference is good, whether it’s good, bad, ugly,” Marlon Brim said. “A win is a win. That’s what Wednesday was all about, fighting through until the end and get the win when it counted.”

Jacari Brim led the Titans against the Bobcats with 22 points, and Cam White had nine points. 

“Sometimes we tell them, instead of taking jump shots, to get to the basket or try to get something easy, or get to the free-throw line,” Marlon Brim said. “You know, we’ve just got to be able to fight through things like that and we can’t always rely on just being a jump-shooting team. You’ve got to maybe do some other things to get going.”

The West Forsyth boys upended Reagan on Friday by seven points. 

“I thought we had a good practice (Thursday), but we knew Reagan was going to be tough,” Marlon Brim said. “We was focused on practice (Thursday) and the kids was focused (Friday) after school.”

Against Reagan, Anthony Jordan led West Forsyth with 22 points, added four assists and four steals, Jacari Brim had 17 points, 5 assists, two steals and two blocks, and White and Max Skillman chipped in with eight points apiece.

“It was nip and tuck in the first half, so I think we went down two points at half, something like that,” Marlon Brim said. “But neither team shot it great, but I thought our defensive pressure and our defensive intensity was better the whole game.”

The Titans scored 25 points in the second half to get a little breathing room. 

“We had some costly turnovers, and we didn’t get a couple loose balls like I thought we should, like we did the first 4 1/2 minutes of that fourth quarter,” Marlon Brim said. “In that third quarter is when we got 50-50 loose balls, we got defensive rebounds, and then we just made layups and got good shots when we got those things.”

Although it’s still very early in the season, West Forsyth will travel to Davie County (13-0, 3-0) Tuesday night in a battle of the last two undefeated teams in conference play. Davie County defeated Mount Tabor 59-53 Friday night. 

“It’s a very important game,” Marlon Brim said. “Our kids know the severity of the game, and I’m pretty sure Coach (Josh) Pittman of (Davie County) has told his guys the severity of Tuesday’s game.

“I expect both teams to be ready and I think it’s going to be a great game.”

West Forsyth and Davie County is always a big rivalry, but Tuesday’s game has added stakes.

“Every game is important in conference,” Marlon Brim said. “You never want to take a game for granted. You never want to take a game off. If you’re trying to win the conference championship every game is important. So, we stress that every night. Each game is just as important as the last game.”

Next week is a busy week for the West Forsyth boys. They travel to Reynolds on Friday night in a conference game, then play host to McMichael next Saturday afternoon in a non-conference game.

“They know the Davie game is the first important game,” Marlon Brim said. “So, for us, they truly know what we’re going up against.”

As for the West Forsyth girls, they returned to conference play after playing the week after Christmas in the Sheetz Holiday Christmas Classic. 

“The Sheetz tournament is always a great event to help us workout some kinks after Christmas,” Coach Catrina Green of the West Forsyth girls said. “The event is filled with tough competition similar to what we would face in the CPC, so it allows for us to play a few tough games and allow for everyone to get much needed reps.”

Emma Staples led West Forsyth with 19 points in the win against Glenn.

“The first game back from break is always a challenge,” Green said. “Having to go through a full day of school and then come out and compete proved to have many teams in the conference shaken up. Overall, I believe the team played tough and together and really locked in on the defensive end to come out with two solid wins.”

Friday was another game in the rivalry between West Forsyth and Reagan. This time, it was in Clemmons. 

“I felt the team was locked in defensively the majority of the game and shared the ball well,” Green said. 

Reagan defeated West Forsyth 52-42 in the first game of this season in the first round of the Mary Garber Holiday Tipoff Classic just before Thanksgiving. However, West Forsyth defeated Reagan four times last season. 

“Reagan is well coached and full of talent,” Green said. “I think being intentional on defense and patient on offense has led to our success in our games competing against them.”

After the first three conference games, all of which were at home, the Titans are in a good position.

“We are getting scoring from all our positions,” Green said. “As with most teams we are searching for consistency and once we get that we will be really good.”

West Forsyth will travel to play at Davie County on Tuesday and at Reynolds on Friday. 

“Next week will be tough week to play on the road against Davie and RJR,” Green said, “Both teams are scrappy and filled with young talent as their motor.”

Just like with the boys in the first place, the girls are trying to keep from looking ahead. 

“It’s a blessing to be where we are but we have to focus on the end goal and keep getting better every practice and game,” Green said.