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By Jay Spivey

For the Clemmons Courier

High school basketball across North Carolina has already reached the survive-and-advance stage portion of the season.  

This past week, both the West Forsyth boys and girls competed in the Central Piedmont 4-A tournament. The boys were the No. 3 seed and won the first two games of the tournament before losing to top-seeded Mount Tabor at Davie County this past Friday.  

As for the West Forsyth girls, they defeated Reagan for the third time this season in the first round of the conference tournament. However, West Forsyth lost to top-seeded Mount Tabor in the semifinals. Mount Tabor defeated Davie County in the championship this past Friday at Davie County.  

That means that the NCHSAA Class 4-A tournament is scheduled to start on Tuesday. The pairings were announced late this past Saturday afternoon, and the West Forsyth boys (20-7) were awarded the No. 13 seed and will play host to No. 20 Mooresville on Tuesday. As for the West Forsyth girls, they finished the conference tournament with an overall record of 13-11 and just missed being selected for the state tournament. 

Much like the West Forsyth boys, Mooresville (17-9) finished third in the Greater Metro 4-A conference, behind Lake Norman and Harrisonburg Hickory Ridge.  

“I know they’re pretty athletic, scrappy team,” Coach Marlon Brim of West Forsyth said of Mooresville. “I don’t know much else about them.” 

If West Forsyth wins Tuesday night Friday night’s second-round game could be a rematch with Mount Tabor. Mount Tabor (22-5) is the No. 4 seed in the NCHSAA 4-A West and will play host to No. 29 Charlotte Palisades (15-11) on Tuesday night.  

“I haven’t even thought about Friday,” Brim said. “We’ve got to get to Tuesday. We’ve got to get past Tuesday to get to Friday. So, we’re going to preach being ready for Tuesday and we can’t look ahead to anything else.” 

If West Forsyth were to play at Mount Tabor on Friday night, it would be the fourth meeting of the season between the two teams. Mount Tabor won the first meeting 63-59 on Jan. 19 at Mount Tabor, Mount Tabor won the second meeting 84-73 on Feb. 16 at West Forsyth, and Mount Tabor won the conference-tournament championship this past Friday 72-60. 

Brim said the players must remain focused on Mooresville in Tuesday’s first round. 

“By talking to them (this past Saturday) when we send out a scouting report, Monday when we get to school and then Monday when we get to practice,” Brim said.  

West Forsyth and Mount Tabor are two of six Central Piedmont 4-A teams that made the NCHSAA Class 4-A West field of 32 teams. Davie County (21-4) is the No. 10 seed and will play host to No. 23 Northern Guilford, East Forsyth (14-12) is the No. 15 seed and will play host to No. 18 South Caldwell, Reagan (14-11) is the No. 25 seed and it will play at No. 8 Watauga, and Parkland (11-14) is the No. 31 seed and will play at No. 2 Lake Norman.  

“We lost a couple games that we shouldn’t have, but that’s a credit to the conference,” Brim said. “At the end of the day you knew the conference, every game was going to be tough even at home. So, I thought we did what we’re supposed to do.” 

The third round of the state tournament is scheduled Tue., March 5, and the fourth round is scheduled for Fri., March 8. The regional finals for the boys and girls in the West and East are scheduled Monday, March 11, through Thursday, March 14, at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem. The state championships for the boys and girls are scheduled Friday, March 15, through Saturday, March 16, at Joel Coliseum. 

“That’s what we’ve been saying since last year being in this conference,” Brim said. “You know, it prepares you for the playoffs, but you’ve also got to be ready mentally for the playoffs because anybody can win any given night. So, that’s the message we had (this past Friday night). So, you’ve just got to be able to take care of business on Day 1 because the first one is round one, you want to win round one. And then you try to move on and try to gain some momentum in the game in round two.” 

In essence, the slate has been wiped clean for all the teams in the playoffs. 

“Everything is zero and zero. You start over,” Brim said. “And now it’s win or go home.” 

In the first round of the conference tournament, the West Forsyth boys upended No. 6 Parkland 82-74 in Clemmons. 

Jacari Brim led the Titans with 25 points and Jordan Tate finished with 11. 

“I just think playing on a Monday – even after playing after the girls I just think playing on a Monday wasn’t like playing in a normal game,” Marlon Brim said. “So, it just like threw off rhythm and stuff like that. But I thought our guys played well Monday. We pretty took control from tip, but it was kind of a little closer than what some people expected.” 

West Forsyth faced Reynolds, which upset No. 2 Davie County in Monday’s first round, on Tuesday at Davie County. West Forsyth won 55-45.  

Jacari Brim led the Titans with 22 points, Cam White had 13, and Jordan Jones chipped in with 12. 

“Our guard play against Reynolds was really good – all three games,” Marlon Brim said. “So, when our guards play really well, I think that’s what makes us go.” 

In Friday’s championship, Mount Tabor upended West Forsyth 72-60. 

West Forsyth led 15-9 after the first quarter, but Mount Tabor took a 25-23 lead at halftime. Mount Tabor pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring West Forsyth 24-15. 

Shamarius Peterkin led the Spartans 24 points, and JaDon Blair and Amare Robinson had 14 points apiece. 

Jacari Brim led the Titans with 25 points, and Jordan Jones scored 18. 

“The first quarter, I thought we came out and played really hard and made shots,” Marlon Brim said. “The second quarter, I think we kind of lost our focus and didn’t play with the same energy and fortitude to win.” 

As for the West Forsyth girls, they came up just short of making the playoffs, ending their season.  

However, they did reach the semifinals of the Central Piedmont 4-A tournament. They defeated Reagan 44-29 this past Monday in the first round in Clemmons. It was the third time West Forsyth defeated Reagan in four meetings this season. 

The lone win Reagan had was in the Mary Garber Holiday Tip-Off Classic just before Thanksgiving,  

This past Wednesday in the semifinals, West Forsyth lost to top-seeded and eventual champion Mount Tabor 60-40.  

In the NCHSAA 4-A West, the first round is Tuesday, and three teams from the Central Piedmont 4-A made the field. Mount Tabor (22-5) is the No. 9 seed and will play host to No. 24 Concord Cox Mill. Reynolds (17-9) is the No. 18 seed and will travel to No. 15 Northwest Guilford, and Davie County (16-11) is the No. 28 seed and will face No. 5 Northern Guilford.