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By Jay Spivey

For the Clemmons Courier

Snow wreaked havoc with high school basketball schedules this past week, but the West Forsyth boys and girls were able to play two Central Piedmont 4-A games at Simpson Gymnasium.

Both the West Forsyth boys and girls played host to Davie County and Reynolds on Wednesday and Thursday, but the results were quite different. The boys swept the two games, and the girls were swept.

The boys edged Davie County 54-49 and cruised past Reynolds 76-53. Meanwhile, the girls were hammered by Davie County 86-28 on Wednesday night and were edged by Reynolds 58-52 this past Thursday.

As for the boys, Jacari Brim scored 17 points to help defeat Davie County, giving West Forsyth (13-1, 5-0) sole possession of first place in the conference lead.

Davie County led 16-12 after the first quarter, but West Forsyth fought back to take a 26-25 lead at halftime. West Forsyth pulled away in the third quarter after outscoring Davie County 16-7.

“I just thought our guys were more locked in,” Coach Marlon Brim of West Forsyth said. “I think sometimes we can get overhyped over a game and just lose some momentum, and we just took us some time to get back to ourselves. I thought we made a good adjustment and I thought our guys were ready after that.”

One thing West Forsyth did against Davie in the second half was contain senior Elliott Erlandson, who is 6-foot-5, and senior Jackson Powers, who is 6-6. Erlandson scored 11 points in the first half and finished with just 13. Powers scored seven points in each half and led Davie County (11-3, 4-1).

“Once we got our feet back under us I just thought we just played West Forsyth basketball,” Marlon Brim said. “We did change some things to throw them off, but I also thought our guys made the conscious effort to lock in and be ready.”

West Forsyth led 42-32 after the first quarter, but Davie County trimmed it to 51-47 with 2:25 left in the fourth quarter after Landon Driver converted a three-point play.

“I thought we could’ve scored the ball a little bit better in the second half even when we had the lead,” Marlon Brim said. “But I also thought we missed some free throws that could’ve pushed the lead forward a little bit.”

West Forsyth made three of six free throws in the final 1:21 to seal the win.

“I think when they made their run we had enough toughness to get the outcome and get the win,” Marlon Brim said.

Because of the forecast for snow this past Friday the Reynolds game was moved up to Thursday, just one night after upended Davie County.

It didn’t faze West Forsyth. Jacari Brim led the team with 27 points.

“We were used to a quick turnaround. We played in the Frank Spencer and the Christmas tournament in Lee County,” Marlon Brim said. “So, the back-to-back games was fine. So, we were used to it. So, it didn’t really bother us or anything like that.

“So I thought we came a little slow again, but I also thought we picked up like usual.”

Jordan Tate added 16 points for the Titans, and Kamauri Manuel had nine points, and Princeton Scott chipped in with seven.

“I think (teams) try to take (Jacari) away,” Marlon Brim said. “I give him credit. He made some shots, made some big threes, and he took the opportunity to make shots and take shots.”

The West Forsyth boys were scheduled to play at East Forsyth (5-3, 3-2) this Tuesday, but the game was moved to Wednesday due to district disruptions brought on by recent winter storms.

“I’ve seen (East Forsyth) in the Frank Spencer and I’ve seen some video on them,” Marlon Brim said. “They’re big. The (Jai) Richburg kid is really good. They’ve got some other really good pieces, so we’ve got to be ready to play. It’s a big week this week coming up.”

On Friday, West Forsyth is scheduled to play host to Mount Tabor (10-3, 4-1). It’s the second time the two teams will have played this season. Mount Tabor pummeled West Forsyth 71-51 on Dec. 21 at Mount Tabor in the championship of the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Bracket of the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic.

Not only did Mount Tabor win that game, it has defeated West Forsyth 14 straight times dating to 2017.

“I’ve just think we’ve got to do better defensively,” Marlon Brim said. “And that’s what we’ve been preaching all year is defense is going to be one of our strong suits, And it has been, but I think that night at the Frank Spencer we didn’t play our best.

“And I think our kids will rebound, But it is Tabor and you know, we’ve just got to be ready.”
Also, West Forsyth is playing host to the MLK Classic, a seven-game event involving area boys and girls teams as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday holiday weekend. The West Forsyth ninth-grade boys team will play at 11 a.m. against High Point Andrews, followed by a noon game between the West Forsyth girls and Randleman, and the West Forsyth boys will play at 1:30 against Walkertown (6-7).

“I just think the more you can play it gets you into like a playoff mode or a conference tournament,” Marlon Brim said. “You know, playing Tuesday, Fridays are good too, but anytime you can throw in a game there to help your kids get ready then I think that’s what we do.”

As for the West Forsyth girls, they just want to wipe this slate clean after an ugly week this past week.

In the Davie County (9-5, 4-1) game last Wednesday, Davie County led 30-6 after the first quarter and led 46-15 at halftime.

“They’re a good team,” Coach Johnathan Gainey of West Forsyth said. “We knew that going into the game. They were probably favored to win. They’re experienced. They bring a lot of experience back from last year.”

The third quarter was even worse. Davie County extended the lead to 57-17 with 5:47 left in the quarter, which triggered a running clock for the rest of the game.

“With girls it all comes down to confidence,” Gainey said. “I think we lost that. You know, when you lose that confidence, it’s just kind of, for them, can be deflating somewhat. And as a coach and a coaching staff you’ve just got to really keep playing.”

The margin in the fourth quarter ballooned to as large as 61 points.

“I’m at West Forsyth,” Gainey said. “… As an athletic program we don’t make excuses.”

Laila Jones missed the Davie County game because of an illness, but she returned Thursday night against Reynolds (4-7, 2-3), which Gainey coached from 2013-17. Jones finished the Reynolds game with five points. Brooklyn King led West Forsyth (8-5, 2-3) in the Reynolds game with 16 points.

“(Reynolds) shot the ball well,” Gainey said. “You know, I think whenever you get the opportunity — when teams shoot the ball or get easy baskets, and then a belief comes.”
Reynolds led 17-11 after the first quarter and after leading 35-29 at halftime, Reynolds outscored West Forsyth 19-12 in the third quarter.

“We had a comeback instead of being out front and putting the pressure on them,” Gainey said. “We wanted to win. The girls, they played hard, We wanted to win. We came up short.”

The West Forsyth girls were also scheduled to travel Tuesday to Kernersville to play East Forsyth (8-3, 4-1). Like the boys, that game was moved to Wednesday.

“We’re in a funk right now and we’re going to have to get ourselves off of it,” Gainey said. “Again, we’re at West Forsyth. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. As a team and a program we have expectations and we’re going to continue to strive for them.”

Also, the West Forsyth girls are scheduled to play host to Mount Tabor (4-8, 3-2) on Friday.
“I think when Mount Tabor beat Davie they are now a team that has to be reckoned with,” Gainey said. “And they are the defending conference champs.”

The West Forsyth girls are scheduled to finish the week playing host to Randleman (6-6) Saturday in the MLK Classic. Gainey faced Randleman last season in the Piedmont 2-A/1-A conference when he was the head coach at Trinity Wheatmore.

“They have a new coach (Scott Tyson),” Gainey said. “I think they might do a few things different.”