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By Jim Buice

After spending my early years in the newspaper business primarily covering sports, I traded in my place on press row and in locker rooms for a variety of different roles, including editor, news and features writer, page designer and copy editor.

So going to last week’s high school basketball playoff game when West Forsyth played host to Watauga was like going back in time for me — in many ways.

And I returned for a specific reason — to see this special West team along with Jacari Brim, the player who broke the great Chris Paul’s all-time record for scoring and assists in the 2024-25 season. With any mention of West Forsyth hoops, my first thought automatically shifts to Paul, the legend from Lewisville who was named North Carolina Mr. Basketball after his senior year with the Titans. 

Of course, he opted to stay home and establish himself as one of the top college basketball players at Wake Forest, leading the Deacons to the program’s first No. 1 ranking and a school record 27 wins in the 2004-05 season before going to the NBA where he emerged as one of the game’s premier point guards.

And believe it or not, Paul is now in his 20th season as a pro and will turn 40 in May. Wow.

This brings us to Brim, the 6-2 senior guard who led West to a Central Piedmont 4-A Conference championship and a No. 2 seed in the 4-A state playoffs.

A nice bonus for me, wearing my fan hat, was that Brim had already committed to play his college basketball at my alma mater, App State, in addition to seeing a talented group that brought a 26-3 record into last Wednesday night’s third-round playoff game.

Brim, who is the son of head coach Marlon Brim, showed off his skill set in a fast-paced, full-court game with high intensity, but Watauga, which eliminated Mount Tabor in the previous round, prevailed 62-59 to end the title hopes for the Titans in what turned out to be Brim’s last high school game.

After the final horn sounded and I headed for the exits, I couldn’t help but think back when I graduated from App State and took my first job at the Watauga Democrat newspaper in Boone where I was a regular at Pioneers’ games.

I also covered the Boone Town Council, which was my first experience in that area, and now I’ve come full circle where I live here and have covered the Clemmons Village Council for years.

And while walking to my car, I reflected on seeing Paul in high school in one of the most incredible individual performances I’ve ever seen — for lots of reasons. 

It came in his senior year when West played at Parkland just after his grandfather, who ran a service station in Winston-Salem, was tragically murdered in the carport of his home.

Paul ended up scoring 61 points but I didn’t realize as the game unfolded that he was trying to honor his grandfather by scoring a point for every year of his grandfather’s life.

A driving layup in the final minutes gave him 61, and although he was apparently only six points from the state high school record for points in a game, Paul was done. West’s victory was secured, and he had accomplished what he set out to do in a touching tribute to a man who had done so much for him.

Paul was actually fouled on the layup and went to the line where he shot an air ball on purpose to stay at 61 points and exited the game crying, only to fall into the arms of his dad. 

It’s a moment I’ll never forget.

• • •

There are annual traditions such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and the like, but my wife and I have added something different to our yearly calendar — a February visit to Suba’s Restaurant in Mountain City, Tenn.

For the third straight winter, we combined a trip to Suba’s along with an App State basketball game. This one was to be there for the jersey retirement of Darryl Robinson, a standout guard who led the Mountaineers — as the first recruit under a youthful head coach Bobby Cremins — to the school’s first NCAA appearance in the late 1970s.

But before the game against Marshall, we made the short journey over the mountain from Boone to Suba’s, a place we heard about a few years ago before getting confirmation in a review from the PBS show, NC Weekend, with Bob Garner. He was crowing about the “best-ever desserts” made by LuAnne Suba, the renowned pastry chef who owns and runs the cozy eatery with her husband, Rich, who is the executive chef and cooks up a variety of delicious lunch and dinner menu choices.

Even for an early lunch at 11 a.m., we needed reservations, and upon entering the lobby, most patrons make their way to a glass dessert case to view LuAnne’s unique offerings.

Every day is different, but on our visit, choices included banana pudding cheesecake, Bailey’s brownie trifle, Maker’s Mark bread pudding, Butterscotch addiction, Strawberry éclair and Snicker’s chess pie.

Yum! On each of our three visits, we’ve enjoyed one dessert each after our meal and one each to go.

It’s worth the trip, even if there is no basketball game.