Game Report on Southwest Guilford Cowboys-East Forsyth Eagles, with Eagles clawing their way to a 72-69 victory

Courtesy of SWG Cowboys’ assistant coach Greg Vlanzy….

The Cowboys of Southwest hit the road to square off the Eagles of East Forsyth. The Cowboys came into tonight’s contest without being able to practice these last two days thanks to Guilford County Schools cancelling after shool activities both Tuesday and Wednesday. So to say it was a rusty and out of sync start for the Cowboys would be an understatement.

Right off the tip the Cowboys missed an open jumper, then proceeded to give up a layup. Southwest responded with a made 3 pointer, but then couldn’t buy a basket for the next five and a half minutes. At the close of the first quarter it was 21-7 in favor of the hosting Eagles.

The second quarter had a glimpse of fight from the Cowboys but turnovers and terrible free-throw shooting never alloed the lead to get the closer than 14 until a late 3 pointer just before the half closed to cut to the closest margin at 41-30.

True to form the Cowboys came out in the second half after having shaken off most of the rust. Less then a minute into the quarter Southwest was able to get the margin to single digits. Midway through the frame the Cowboys got it to 45-41. Bad decisions, and costly turnovers allowed the Eagles to go on a quick little spurt to extend the lead back out, but a strong finish to the frame put the game to 53-49 at the close of the third.

The final stanza opened with an East Forsyth basket. After that the teams traded 3 pointers for a couple possessions. Southwest kept scratching and clawing and used a solid team defensive effort in spurts to get within 64-60 by the 2:00 mark. The final two minutes were a roller coaster of action. A pair of freebies for the hosts got it to 66-60, but a Ben Ferguson 3 pointer got it 66-63 with only 1:40 to go. Ben followed the play up on the defensive side of the ball with a steal and then a timeout was called with 1:09 to play. Out of the timeout a play was well executed and a deep 3 ball by Ferguson tied the ball game for the briefest of moments. On the ensuing inbounds and push up the court, a heady steal by KJ Langley got him an open layup on the breakaway to give the Cowboys their first lead since the opening minutes at 68-66. A mental lapse by the Cowboys gave the Eagles a good look after an offensive rebound to tie it back up at 68. On the next possession, an Eagle player fouled DJ Chamblee in the backcourt. Chamblee went to the line with only 20 seconds left and hit only the first of 2 giving the Cowboys a 69-68 lead. On the next possession, the Cowboys were able to force a bad shot, but unable to get the critical offensive rebound and a couple passes later and a made basket by the Eagles put them up for good. A time out was called by the Cowboys with 8.8 seconds left with the ball at mid-court. The Cowboy player drove to the basket and didn’t get the call and the ball rolled off the rim and the ball was tipped out to half-court and the Eagles scored a layup as the buzzer expired making the final tally 72-69.

Southwest was led by Ben Ferguson with 5 3-pointers (19, 6 Reb), DJ Chamblee with 14, 7 Reb, 2 Stl, and Kaymon Mitchell with 11, 5 Reb). East Forsyth was led by Brandon Childress and Larry Curry with 20 and 19 respectively. No rest for the weary thanks to the scheduling as the Cowboys turnaround to host Northwest tomorrow night.

                1st  2nd  3rd  4th  Final
   E. Fosyth    21   20   12   19   72
   Southwest    07   23   19   20   69

E. Forsyth (15-1) (3-0)
Brandon Childress 20
Drew Cone 7
Larry Curry 19
Madison Cone 13
Jacob Nester 2
Tyriq Royal 4
Zach Duncan 5
Riley LaRue 2

Southwest (13-4) (2-1)
KJ Langley 6, 5 Ast, 3 Stl
Austen Zente 5, 2 Ast
Ben Ferguson 19
DJ Chamblee 14
Orlando Smith 3
Kameron Langley 7, 3 Reb, 2 Ast
Arjun Patel 2, 2 Reb
Kaymon Mitchell 11