East Forsyth power forward Dominique Jones
shoots over the outstretched arms of Glenn's
Christian Herbin.
Photo by Craig T. Greenk
Dashan Adams of Reynolds pressures Lexington's
Adrian Hogan.
* C J. Mack of West Forsyth delivered crucial baskets
and rebounds in the Titans overtime win over
Reagan in the quarterfinals.
Tournament's early rounds play out as expected
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
With the exception of a couple of mild
first-round upsets, all has gone as expected
at this year's Lash-Chronicle JV
Tournament. The Final Four - Mount
Tabor, West Forsyth, East Forsyth and
Reynolds - just happen to be the tourna
ment's top four seeds.
Here's a run-down on the Final Four
teams and their .prospects entering the
month of January.
Mount Tabor
The one question about this team is
whether or not it will play to its true
strength. The Spartans have their share of
big bodies in the post - Duncan Smits,
Dillon Bullard, Jaylen Moore and Cole
Foley. All four players know how to mus
cle their way for position to dominate the
glass for second-chance points.
The backcourt tandem of Carson Antis
and Quest Aldridge has played well, and
figures to improve as the season progress
es.
Mount Tabor's inside size proved to be
the key difference in its 94-84 win over
defending tournament champ Winston
Salem Prep in the quarterfinals. The
Spartans were at their best when pounding
the ball inside.
While it's true that Mount Tabor is for
midable, it doesn't mean that this team is
invincible. The night before playing the
Lash-Chronicle quarterfinals, the Spartans
had a 67-65 road loss to Reynolds.
Turnovers and missed free throws were,
heavy contributors to Mount Tabor's
demise.
"For us to play as well as we're capable
of playing,it's all about how we dictate the
ball game," said coach Willie Harrison.
"When to run, when not to run. Plus, we
have to do a better job of paying attention
to details, especially in the fourth quarter
of ball games."
West Forsyth
Of the four semi-finalists, West
Forsyth came the closest to having to make
an early tournament exit. Even though the
Titans maintained control throughout their
match-up against Reagan, they were
pushed to the limit, but managed to survive
with a 59-54 victory in overtime.
In the waning seconds of regulation,
Ryan Ayers hit a 3-pointer and then he hit
a pair of free throws to tie the game at 49
with less than a second left to play.
In the OT, JaQuan McMillian of West
Forsyth secured the win with two critical
steals which he converted into fast-break
baskets. McMillian finished with a team
high 20 points. Power forward C J. Mack
turned in a solid performance at the defen
sive end and he also contributed 11 points
to the cause.
Ayers was tops for Reagan with 24
points and Shammond Dockery chipped in
with 10 points.
"We shot ourselves in the foot," said
coach Jefferey Williams. "But a lot of that
was because of Reagan, and how they
played defense. There's a lot for this team
to work on, both on the court and off the
court. We're playing with mainly all fresh
men and one sophomore and they're being
asked to be mature for this tournament and
for the rest of the season."
East Forsyth
The Eagles suffered one regular-sea
son loss (to Reagan), but other than that,
they've been the dominant team. In the
Lash-Chronicle quarterfinal round, East
Forsyth pounced on longtime rival Glenn
from the opening tip and cruised to an 80
69 victory.
Point guard Josh Mahaffey led the
Eagles with 16 points and backcourt mate
Tanis Samuels scored 15 points. Connor
Sparrow (13 points) controlled the paint at
both ends of the court.
Marcus Harris was the prime offensive
weapon for the Bobcats with a game-high
20 points. Paul Carlton added 10 points.
"We have an experienced team that's
very hungry," said coach Rodney Minor.
"When we can get the ball inside, it softens
things up for our shooters. When we play
to our potential, it can be very scary. We're
talented from top to bottom. This team
goes two-deep at every position."
Reynolds
The Demons had an easy time of it in a
67-51 victory over Lexington.
There were times, however, when they
eased up and Lexington was able to pull
within seven points of the lead (60-53)
with about four minutes remaining.
Perhaps this was to be expected. The night
before playing in the quarterfinals,
Reynolds beat Mount Tabor in a game that
wasn't decided until the final seconds.
In the tournament win, point guard Ian
Henderson led all scorers with 15 points
and Charlie Mensh finished with 12. Four
other Reynolds players scored six points or
more.
For Lexington, Saafir Craven scored a
team-high 12 points, while Jayron Roberts
and Nasheed Peoples contributed 10 points
apiece.
"Coming in, I knew we would have to
fight against a let-down from the night
before when we beat Mount Tabor," said
?ESflHiiziiiiaasnaB
(Parentheses denote tournament
seed)
Quarterfinals results
(No. 2) West Forsyth 59, (No. 10)
Reagan 54, OT
(No. 3) East Forsyth 80, (No. 11)
Glenn 69
(No. 1) Mount Tabor 94, (No. 9)
Winston-Salem Prep 84
(No. 4) Reynolds 67, (No. 5) Lex
ington 51
Semifinals, Dec. 21
East Forsyth vs. West Forsyth 6:30
p.m.
Reynolds vs. Mount Tabor, 8 p.m.
Finals, Dec. 22
3rd-Place Consolation, 6 p.m.
Championship, 7:30 p.m.
First round results
East Forsyth 81, Walkertown 14
Reynolds 87, North Forsyth 65
Lexington 68, Atkins 27
Glenn 64, Parkland 54
Reagan 62, Thomasville 61
Winston-Salem Prep 70, Carver 32
coach Mike McCulloch. "Lexington cut
into our lead and made us sweat a little bit.
"Looking ahead, the key for us is to
play defense and box-out. If we try to rely
on our athletic ability without boxing-out,
we're going to find ourselves in a lot of
dog-fight type of games."
Demons, Eagles beat top
seeds to reach title game
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
The top two seeds in
this year's Lash-Chronicle
JV Tournament will have
to settle for the consolation
prize. That's because No. 3
East Forsyth and No. 4
Reynolds, the lowest seeds
of the tournament's Final
Four, prevailed over the
higher seeds in the semifi
nals played on Monday
night.
Reynolds whipped No.
1 seed Mount Tabor, 77-70
in the nightcap. East
Forsyth topped No. 2 seed
West Forsyth, 53-47 in the
opening game. Here's a
replay of how each team
advanced to the title round.
Reynolds tops No. 1
The Demons proved to
be the better team in their
match-up against Mount
Tabor. Intense pressure
defense and timely shoot
ing set the tone for the vic
tors. The Spartans man
aged to stay in contention,
but were unable to make a
complete comeback in the
second half.
"We attacked the bas
ket and made good shots,"
said coach Mike
McCulloch of Reynolds. "I
was happy with 95 percent
of our shot selection. When
you make shots, it's much
easier for us to get into our
full-court press, which
allowed us to control the
tempo. We wanted to play
full-court for the first three
quarters."
Treviz Murphy, who
finished with 21 points,
spearheaded a balanced
Demons offensive attack.
Ian Henderson scored 13
points, while Dashan
Adams and Mysta Goodloe
chipped in with 11 points
apiece.
Late in the third quarter
it appeared that Mount
Tabor was on the verge of
finding a rhythm. Jaylen
Moore's put-back cut
Reynolds lead to 49-48
with about three minutes
remaining. By the end of
the quarter, the Demons
pulled away with a 9-3 run
to go up by seven points
(58-51).
Mount Tabor did close
the gap to 74-70 with 12.7
seconds left on a Quest
Aldridge drive. Reynolds
put the game away on a
Murphy free throw and
Rashon Bethea's basket.
Coach Willie Harrison
wasn't pleased with how
his ? Spartans performed
against a team that it had
lost to three nights earlier.
' Aside from Reynolds'
defensive effectiveness
and offensive execution,
Mount Tabor contributed
to its downfall with mental
lapses at both ends of the
floor.
"From the beginning of
the ball game until the very
end, we didn't have enough
energy," said coach Willie
Harrison of Mount Tabor.
"The effort wasn't there.
We just didn't play hard
enough to win a champi
onship. We didn't move die
ball too well on offense. As
for our defense, that's
something - that as a coach
- I have to fix. Hopefully,
we'll have this all straight
ened out by the start of
January."
Aldridge scored 19
points to lead the way for
the Spartans. Although
post players Dillon Bullard
(14 points) and Duncan
Smits (13 points) scored in
double digits, both had off
nights offensively.
East Forsyth triumphs
For the first half, nei
ther team was able to fully
impose its will on the
other. But all that changed
in the second half when
East Forsyth outscored
West Forsyth 15-5 in the
third quarter.
Connor Sparrow was
the top scorer for East
Forsyth with 14 points.
Josh Mahaffey, who sank a
pair of foul shots in the
waning seconds to help
seal the win, finished with
10 points.
Although the Titans
made a gallant comeback
bid in the fourth, they
weren't able to totally erase
the 43-34 deficit at the end
of the third. The Eagles
had command of the game
and a 46-36 working mar
gin with 4:14 left to play in
the game. That's when the
momentum began to shift
in West Forsyth's favor.
JaQuan McMillian of
the Titans hit a 3-pointer to
cut the Eagles' lead to 48
47 with 1:25 remaining in
the contest. On the next
possession, McMillian
stole a pass and dribbled
down court for a lay-up,
but his shot, which
would've given his team
the lead, rimmed out. With
the game still in doubt,
West Forsyth had a
turnover on its next posses
sion, which squashed its
rally.
"In the first half, we
committed 13 turnovers
and they beat us to every
50-50 ball," said coach
Rodney Minor of East
Forsyth. "That's why the
game turned into a dog
fight. In the second half,
we rebounded well and we
defended well, and that's
what ultimately go! us the
win."
For the Titans,
McMillian was the leading
scorer with 15 points.
Backcourt partner Jaylon
McMillon chipped in with
10.
(Photo by Craig T Omnia
Jaylen Moore of Mount Tabor scores on a put-back.
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