EAST FORSYTH - 15-11-15-13 -- 54 DAVIE COUNTY - 16-11-12-14 -- 53
EAST FORSYTH (17-5, 8-1) Shemar Watkins 19, Samuels 8, AJ Hall 8, Jones 5, Wiley 4, Hairston 4, Mahaffey 2, Brintley 2, McCummings 2.
DAVIE COUNTY (15-7, 6-3) Owen McCormick 23, Wall 8, Griggs 7, Walton 5, Wood 3, Hendrix 3, Johnson 2, Redmon 2.
East Forsyth outlasted Davie County 54-53 to clinch a share of the Central Piedmont 4A Conference regular season championship Tuesday night in Mocksville. The visiting Eagles, now 17-5 overall, seized the lead in the tight game early in the second half & held off a late War Eagles rally for their eighth conference win in nine starts.
Davie took an early 9-4 lead four minutes into the game but East surged to it’s own five-point margins (26-21) midway through the second quarter, then stretched it to its largest lead of the game (39-29) five minutes into the second half.
The War Eagles, led by the game’s leading scorer Owen McCormick (23 points), took their only lead of the tight second half (51-48) with three minutes left in the game on a three-pointer by Cooper Wall & maintained it until the game’s final minutes. Davie was draining the clock with the slim lead against East’s solid defense but took an errant three-pointer, which the Eagles turned into fast-break points from Shemar Watkins with 17 second remaining to regain the lead.
After a Davie time out, Wall missed a baseline jumper with four second left & East boxed out the taller War Eagles, including the game’s leading rebounder (McCormick-9) and deflected the rebound away from the War Eagles as time expired. The loss eliminated Davie (6-3 in CPC) from title contention, entering Friday night’s regular season finale in which East travels to second-class Reynolds.
Watkins contributed 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists & three steals for the Eagles, who played without four players & an assistant coach due to various ailments. East’s depth provided the lift again as it has throughout the 2017-18 season, with nine of the 11 players dressed for the game scored and seven players registering at least one rebound as the winners outrebounded the taller War Eagles 30-25.
Courtesy of assistant coach Bill Armour East Forsyth High School