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By Jay Spivey 

For the Clemmons Courier

Seniors Jacari Brim of the boys basketball team and Sydney Horton of the softball team were named Male and Female Athletes of the Year, respectively, for West Forsyth High School.

The two awards were given at the end-of-year sports Awards Day. 

“It’s a blessing to say I was Male Athlete of the Year in my senior class because I put in work, and it shows that people see that,” said Brim. “I’m one of the best athletes on the campus, if not the best. So, really just students see it, teachers see it and really everybody on campus.” 

Brim, who is the son of Coach Marlon Brim of the boys basketball team and has signed to play college basketball at Appalachian State, had a chance to soak it all in on Awards Day.

“I was really just calm and collected because I was sitting down for an award,” Jacari Brim said. “That’s why I didn’t have to make no big big gesture or nothing. I just calmly got up there and they talked about my accolades, and I just got my award”

Horton took the award in stride, not expecting the award.

“No (I wasn’t expecting it),” she said. “There’s a lot of good athletes, so I didn’t really know who was going to get it.” 

When Horton’s name was announced that put an exclamation point on her season. 

“I was grateful, excited,” Horton said. “It’s an honor to get that for the second year, for a second time.” 

Horton, who has signed to play softball at North Carolina, also won the Female Athlete of the Year at West Forsyth in 2023. 

“She’s a really good athlete,” Brim said of Horton. “I mean she’s going to UNC for softball, so that really shows the same thing. She really works hard on and off the field, off the softball field. It really shows that me and her, we really work hard. 

“We’re just two kids that want to make a bigger image for ourself when we grow up. So, I wish the best of luck to her and she’ll probably be better at UNC too.” 

Even though the two play completely different sports there is a mutual respect between the two. 

“It’s good. He’s a great athlete as well,” Horton said. “So, just an honor getting that.” 

The West Forsyth boys basketball team won the Central Piedmont 4-A after finishing 26-4 overall and 13-1 in the conference. According to MaxPreps.com, in the first 29 games, Jacari Brim averaged 18.7 points per game, 4.3 assists per game and 3.9 rebounds per game. In addition, he broke Chris Paul’s scoring and assists records.

“I had a couple goals, definitely breaking Chris Paul’s scoring record and the assist record,” Jacari Brim said. “I would say at least scoring 1,000 points. That was one of my main goals and kind of making a name for myself. And I feel like I did that when I came here. And really just making a run in the playoffs and winning the conference championship because they haven’t won it in so long.” 

The West Forsyth boys basketball team lost to Mount Tabor 71-51 in the championship of the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic, continuing a string of seven years without defeating Mount Tabor. However, that all changed on Jan. 17 when West Forsyth pummeled Mount Tabor 53-38 in Clemmons.

And on the final night of the regular season, West Forsyth defeated Mount Tabor 58-41, clinching the outright regular-season championship. However, Mount Tabor bounced back the next week in the conference championship to beat West Forsyth 63-55.

In the NCHSAA Class 4-A tournament, West Forsyth defeated Waxhaw Marvin Ridge 77-70 in the first round, defeated South Caldwell 54-47 in overtime in the second round, but it lost to Watauga 62-59 in the third round.

“It was a great ride,” Jacari Brim said. “it didn’t go the way I expected it to go, but it is what it is because God has a plan for you, has steps for you, has journeys in life for you, so I feel like winning that conference championship and winning a bunch of games like we did really shows that my dad and the coaches are building a program at West and they’re going to be good for the next couple years, so just keep an eye on them.” 

Jacari Brim played his freshman season at Atkins when his father was the head coach there. When Marlon Brim left Atkins to take the job at West Forsyth three years ago, Jacari Brim followed his father there. 

“It’s been pretty good,” Jacari Brim said. “It’s my dad, so he’s going to keep it real with me every time he wanted to tell me everything’s wrong. It was good, all four years, having your dad as your coach, when you come home and you can talk to him and get some advice, like what I can do better for next game. What should I do for next game?  

“What should I tell my teammates to do better this game? But really just picking up things, pros and cons or whatever to try to feel better, being a great kid on the court and off the court just to show that I’m a leader.” 

Part of Jacari Brim’s maturation as a player came from transferring from Atkins after his freshman year.  

“Just kind of crazy when I first transferred,” Jacari Brim said. “It was a lot of people because I wasn’t really used to it because Atkins was 3-A and it was a magnet school. And then I come into West, it’s 4-A, it’s a lot of kids. You can wear anything, no dress code. Just meet new kids. So, it’s been a crazy fun ride.” 

It was also a championship season for the West Forsyth softball team. Horton, a shortstop, helped lead West Forsyth to an overall record of 26-3 and 14-0 in the Central Piedmont 4-A. Horton finished this season with a .615 batting average, a .661 on-base percentage, 10 home runs, 60 runs, 39 stolen bases on 39 attempts, and 56 hits.

In addition, Horton broke the school record for most hits in a career with 202, surpassing the previous record set of 180 set by Cammy Pereira.

“I was just really proud of everybody,” Horton said. “We worked together as a team, and we accomplished stuff that we haven’t in the past four years. And I think we worked together really well.” 

The West Forsyth softball team was the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and defeated Reynolds 15-0 in the first round. It followed that win with an 8-2 win against East Forsyth in the semifinals. However, it lost to Reagan 4-3 in the championship. 

After the conference tournament, the West Forsyth softball team was the top-seeded team from the conference and defeated Southwest Guilford 7-1 in the first round in Clemmons. In the second round West Forsyth defeated South Iredell 10-7 and followed that with an 8-0 win against Northern Guilford in the third round in Clemmons. However, the season ended in the quarterfinals after South Caldwell defeated West Forsyth 5-2 in Clemmons. 

“It was competitive as always,” Horton said. “We played Reagan in the final round, so that was good competition. And same thing in the states, I think we’ve never made it past the second round (in her previous three seasons), I don’t think, so it was a lot of competition. We made it to the fourth round and lost in the fourth round, but it was a lot of competition.” 

Graduation just happened less than two weeks ago, but Jacari Brim is already thinking about what’s next as he goes to Boone.

“I go June 8 for basketball camp and workouts and stuff,” he said. “I come back the 14th or the 13th of June. And I officially move back June 22. So, I’ll be there for good.” 

Horton, who said she is set to check in at North Carolina on Aug. 19, is ready to travel to Chapel Hill to begin her next chapter. 

“Carolina has been a dream of mine, really,” Horton said. “My dad is a diehard Carolina fan, so when I first started talking to them, it was just, ‘Yeah, if I get this opportunity, it’ll be a good one.’”