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By Jay Spivey 

For the Clemmons Courier

 

The season came to an end this past Tuesday night for the second-ranked West Forsyth boys basketball team. 

West Forsyth couldn’t hold on to a big third-quarter lead as it fell to No. 7 Watauga 62-59 in the third round of the NCHSAA Class 4-A boys basketball tournament at Simpson Gym. 

The Titans (26-4) led 49-36 after senior Jacari Brim hit a layup with 2:36 left in the third quarter. However, the Pioneers, who were 21-7 after the game, trimmed the lead to 49-45 after the third quarter.  

“I think we built the lead and then we gave the lead and the momentum back to them during the third quarter,” said third-year Coach Marlon Brim of West Forsyth. “I thought we clearly had taken momentum in the third, and took control of the game. But the last two minutes of the third, they kind of took the momentum and the game back to their side.”

Down 49-46 early in the fourth quarter Watauga’s Brady Lindenmuth had a shot with 6:37 to trim the lead to 49-48. Josiah Railey hit two free throws with 5:50 left to give the Pioneers a 50-49 lead with 5:50 left, their first lead since it was 29-26 with 2:50 left in the second quarter.  

“I just thought we didn’t keep our foot on the gas,” Marlon Brim said. “I thought when we scored, they pushed the ball back and scored on us. I don’t think our defense played as great (against Watauga) as it has all year. So, it wasn’t (anything) they did. I think (against Watauga) it was truly us.” 

Although Watauga quickly surged ahead early in the fourth quarter, West Forsyth regained the lead with 5:08 left after Jacari Brim, Marlon Brim’s son, hit a floater to make it 51-50.  

The lead flip-flopped the next few minutes, Cade Keller, who only scored four points in the first half but tied the team in scoring along with Jade Blocker with 18 points, hit a 3-pointer to give Watauga a 53-51 lead. However, Jacari Brim answered with a layup to tie the game at 53-53 with 4:24 left.  

“I just thought we never recovered from the third (quarter),” Marlon Brim said. “Once they took the momentum it took us a while to kind of get back going. So, I give them credit. They came in here and took the win from us.” 

Jacari Brim was fouled by Landon Smith with 3:31 left, and made the first free throw and missed the second, keeping the West Forsyth lead at 54-53. Watauga came right back after Lindenmuth was fouled by Cale Lloyd and made both free throws to give Watauga a 55-54 lead. Railey added a layup with 2:36 left to extend the Watauga lead to 57-54.  

The lead didn’t last long because Kamauri Manuel of the Titans hit a floater with 2:24 left to trim the lead to 57-56. Manuel was fouled on the play and converted the three-point play after making the free throw to tie the game at 57-57. Manuel finished with 12 points. 

Keller banked in a shot to give the Pioneers a 59-57 lead. However, Manuel stole the ball and converted a layup with 1:02 left to tie the game at 59-59.

Keller, who finished with a team-high 20 points, hit a jumper with 38 seconds left to give Watauga a 61-59 lead. But with 25.8 seconds left, Jacari Brim, who finished with 15 points, was fouled by Railey. Jacari Brim missed both free throws. 

West Forsyth finished the game shooting 7 of 16 from the free-throw line, and Watauga was 14 for 20. 

“I just think we overthink shooting free throws instead of just shooting it as a routine,” Marlon Brim said. “(If) you’re not truly locked in, crowd noise or anything can throw you off. So, it wasn’t just tonight. You know, we’ve had games that we’ve won even when we didn’t shoot free throws well. So, you’ve just got to live and learn.” 

Watauga turned the ball over with 16.7 seconds left. Jacari Brim took the inbounds pass, gave it to Manuel, leading to Cale Lloyd missing a 3-point attempt. 

“We did shoot some threes (where) we didn’t need the three,” Marlon Brim said. “We should’ve drove the ball like we were driving at the end of the third. So, that’s basketball.  

“You know, you’re not going to get on a kid for shooting when he’s been shooting it all year. So, at the end of the day I just think we could’ve done a few things different, and we could’ve gotten downhill and made baskets rather than settle for threes.” 

With seven seconds remaining, Blocker picked up an offensive rebound and was fouled by Jordan Tate. Blocker missed the first free throw but made the second to give Watauga a 62-59 lead. West Forsyth had one last chance, but Manuel was called for traveling with 1.5 seconds left to seal the win for Watauga. 

“(The Watauga game) was difficult because the kids played their tails off,” Marlon Brim said. “They played hard. But at the end of the day, it’s basketball. You’re going to win some and you’re going to lose some. But like I told the guys at the end of the game, you brought West to another level.”

West Forsyth led 20-17 after the first quarter, but Watauga took a 29-23 lead with 3:06 left in the second quarter. Watauga was able to pull ahead in the second quarter with the driving ability of Railey, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior guard and Blocker, a 6-8, 225-pound junior center. Blocker scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half while Railey scored eight of his 14 points in the first half. 

“We just told our bigs to wall up and be tougher in the post,” Marlon Brim said of guarding Blocker. “Like, the first half we just let him catch the ball deep and just get anywhere. In the second half, we kind of made it tougher for him to score and gave him more resistance. Anytime you guard the post you can’t let the man just set up and do what he wants to do. You have to give resistance. You have to play hard. And you’ve got to rebound when you need a rebound.” 

In the third quarter, as the Titans pulled ahead with a 13-point lead, it was Lloyd who was the catalyst. Lloyd scored eight of his team-high 16 points, including six points on two 3-pointers. 

“I thought Cale played well,” Marlon Brim said. “And I hate that it was his last game. But that’s something we’ve been trying to get Cale to do all year. And it’s just disappointing that he kind of figured it out (against Watauga) then all year. So, (against Watauga) I thought he played very well and that’s what we wanted him to do. And at the end of the day, we just didn’t get it done.” 

West Forsyth, had it defeated Watauga, would’ve played host to No. 3 North Mecklenburg (27-3) on Friday in the quarterfinals. However, Watauga will travel to Huntersville on Friday to play North Mecklenburg in the quarterfinals. The winner of that game will play the winner of Friday’s other West regional semifinal between No. 13 Chambers at No. 9 Myers Park, both from Charlotte.  

Lake Norman, the No. 1 seed, had to forfeit its game against Myers Park this past Tuesday for playing an ineligible player during the season. The winners of Friday’s two regional semifinals will play in the regional final next Wednesday at Joel Coliseum. The winners of both the West and East Regional at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem next Wednesday will play for the state championship next Saturday at Joel Coliseum.

“Three years ago, when I took this job, that was the goal. So, nobody expected us to win the conference, finish with No. 2 seed (in the West Region), and put West on the map. So, to me I told all of them from the seniors to the freshmen, that the foundation has been laid. So, now expectations are the same.”