West Forsyth boys basketball sweeps two conference games; girls drop two conference matchups

Published 6:39 pm Saturday, February 10, 2024

By Jay Spivey

For the Clemmons Courier

The West Forsyth boys basketball team swept its two games against Davie County and Reynolds this week in Clemmons, but the West Forsyth girls were swept by the same two teams.

With just one week to go before the end of the regular season, the West Forsyth boys defeated Davie County 72-59 this past Tuesday and followed that this past Friday night with a 79-55 win against Reynolds with the help of 27 points from Michael Siedlecki.

However, the girls struggled, losing 49-42 against Davie County Tuesday night and 41-32 in overtime this past Friday against Reynolds.

After defeating Davie, West played sluggishly in the first quarter against Reynolds. Reynolds led 15-10 after the first quarter.

“I think they came out ready to play,” Coach Marlon Brim of the Titans said of the Demons. “And we didn’t come out ready to play. And I think we have some moments like that at times where we don’t come out ready to play.”

Reynolds continued the momentum and extended the lead to 25-15 after a 3-pointer from Kingston Carmichael with 4:30 left in the second quarter.

Antoine Jones Jr. led the Demons with 15 points and Carmichael contributed 10.

“We was down 10,” Marlon Brim said. “When you can make threes and force the other team into the tough shots. And then come down and make another three then I think that’s how the game changes.”

The Titans went on an 8-1 run to end the second quarter, tying the game at 28-28. The Demons took a 40-39 lead with 3:17 left in the third quarter, but the Titans responded with an 18-0 run to end the quarter to take a 57-40 lead.

“I don’t know if that was our best, but it was one of our best,” Marlon Brim said. “That was one of our best. We’ve done it before. We’ve had some summer games when we was like that. The kids played with energy and effort tonight in the second half.”

It was much of the same in the fourth quarter. Siedlecki hit a 3-pointer with 7:37 left in the fourth quarter to extend the run 21-0 and took a 60-40 lead.

“Pretty good, pretty good, pretty good,” Siedlecki said. “…It feels good, you know, just seeing the ball go in. It feels great.”

West Forsyth was never challenged after that run and led by as many as 27 points.

“I like the way our kids played in the second half,” Marlon Brim said. “We played the way we’re supposed to play. We’ve mentally and defensively tough. We shared the ball. The kids knocked down shots and that’s what we want.”

Jacari Brim added 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks against Reynolds.

“Michael’s had some games like that,” Marlon Brim said. “Michael’s young, so it’s going to be some up-and-down. But Michael’s going to be really good the next couple years at West.”

Barring a meeting in the upcoming Central Piedmont 4-A tournament, Friday night’s game against Reynolds might be the last time Marlon Brim faces Coach Billy Martin of Reynolds. Martin announced earlier this past week that he would be retiring at the end of the season.

“I love Coach Martin,” Marlon Brim said. “You know, everything’s special with Coach Martin. First-class coach, runs a great program at Reynolds, and really hate to see him leave. We had talked about it a little bit this summer and I didn’t believe him, but you know, 19 years at Reynolds, you know, what else do you want? But I tip my hat off to him.

“We talked before the game. We’ll get together afterwards, but I love Coach Martin and I wish him the best in his retirement.

In the win against Davie Cam White and Anthony Jordan led West Forsyth with 13 points apiece. Jordan Tate added 12 points and Jacari Brim chipped in with 10.

“It set the tone for us,” Marlon Brim said. “I didn’t like the way we came out (against Davie) in the first half, but it set the tone to finish out the week strong to see us go 2-0.”

West Forsyth is scheduled to close out the regular season this week with a road game at East Forsyth, followed by a home game Friday night against conference-leading Mount Tabor.

“Like I told the guys, it’s all about getting ready for practice,” Marlon Brim said. “Have a good practice and then have a good game. So, we’ll be ready for East. You know Coach (Monty) Gray will have his guys ready. But the kids know what’s at stake and know what we’ve got to do to get a win. And it’s going to be tough at East.”

Mount Tabor (17-5, 10-2) is leading the conference, followed by both Davie County 19-3, 9-3) and West Forsyth (17-5, 9-3), East Forsyth (12-10, 8-4) in fourth, Reagan (13-9, 9-7) in fifth, and in a tie for sixth is both Reynolds (10-12, 3-9) and Parkland (10-12, 3-9), and Glenn (7-15, 1-11) is in last.

“That’s the CPC,” Marlon Brim said. “It’s tough. Every game’s tough. Reynolds is tough, Parkland is tough. So, you can’t look at anybody’s conference record. You’ve got to be able to play night-in and night-out, and you’ve got to play 32 minutes.”

 As for the West Forsyth girls, they stumbled with home games against Davie County and Reynolds.

Against Davie, West Forsyth took a 13-10 lead after the first quarter, but Davie led 19-18 at halftime. West Forsyth led 29-27 after the third quarter, but Davie dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring West Forsyth 21-12.

Peyton Spaugh led the War Eagles with 18 points, and Brooklynn King led the Titans with 15 points and Staples chipped in with 14.

Friday night against Reynolds, West Forsyth led 16-11 at halftime. In the third quarter, Staples nailed a 3-pointer with 48.8 seconds remaining in the second quarter to extend the West Forsyth lead to 26-20 lead at the end of the quarter.

West Forsyth struggled offensively in the fourth quarter, scoring just two points – two free throws from Isabel Gil with 3:28 left to give West Forsyth a 28-23 lead.

The Demons came back and tied the game after Shyla Simms stole the ball and converted a layup with 2:14 left.

Neither team was able to score, but the Demons took possession with 1:51 left. They dribbled the ball until Coach T.J. Eggers of the Demons called timeout with 27.4 seconds remaining. After the timeout, the Titans were called for a foul. They had a foul to give, so the Demons took possession under their own basket. They threw it inbounds but never got off a shot, sending the game to overtime.

It was all Reynolds in overtime. Destiny Thompson banked in a shot 8 seconds into the four-minute overtime, a lead they never relinquished. Reynolds outscored West Forsyth 13-4 in overtime, meaning Reynolds outscored Reynolds 21-6 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

West Forsyth is scheduled to play at East Forsyth on Tuesday and at home on Friday to close out the regular season at home against Mount Tabor.

Mount Tabor (17-5, 11-1) leads the Central Piedmont 4-A, followed by Reynolds (14-8, 10-2), Davie County (13-9, 7-5) in third, both West Forsyth (11-9, 6-6), and Reagan (10-11, 6-6) tied for fourth, Parkland (5-16, 4-8) is in sixth, East Forsyth (6-15, 3-9) is in seventh, and Glenn (3-19, 1-11) is in last place.