Game Report on Southwest Guilford-Northwest Guilford Boys Basketball:SWG Cowboys reach 20 wins on the season and remain Unbeaten with Turner turning it on for 31 pts/10 boards, while Martin adds 16 and Pettiford 15 points for the C’boys

The Cowboys hit the road to square off against their former conference rival Northwest Guilfor. The Vikings are a 4A contender having a great season and are currently 16th in the Maxpreps rankings in their classification. This was a makeup game from the heavy snow in December.

The Cowboys came into tonight looking to keep their perfect season rolling and come out of tough environment still unmarred after a solid road win last night. The Vikings came into tonight off of a hard fought win on the road as well.

The Vikings came out red hot riding last nights momentum. The hosts got up quickly 7-3. An ice cold Cowboys club finally got a bucket, but the Vikings replied right away and it was 10-5 at the 5:20 mark. The back and forth battle continued with trading points. Southwest slowly warmed up like leftover lasagna and tied the game at 12-12 at the 3:05 mark. Northwest quickly answered and reclaimed the lead with a made free-throw. The Cowboys finally got fully reheated and took the lead for good with a three pointer to go up 15-13 at the 2:35 mark. That was the start of a 11-0 blitz that got the Cowboys up 23-13. Yet again the Vikings resiliently got a three pointer right before the buzzer and it was 23-16 after the first quarter of play.

The back and forth fight continued as both teams nearly mirrored each other with baskets and free throws. Southwest started to put some defensive stops together and slowly build the lead up to double digits, as the swarming Cowboys made life difficult for the Vikings. The lengthy zone helped Southwest build a 41-31 lead heading into the break.

The second half opened with a 7-2 blip by the Cowboys and it was 49-34 at the 5:41 mark. The teams battled back and forth yet again, and the Cowboys could not gain the momentum back. The third frame closed with the Cowboys only up 61-50.

The final frame opened up with a Vikings basket and it looked like the theme would continue as it was 61-52. A quick 5-0 spurt by the Cowboys got it to 66-52, which forced another Vikings timeout. Northwest stopped the bleeding and the teams traded baskets once again and it was 68-56. The cumulative defensive pressure started to take its toll on Northwest as the Cowboys put their foot on the gas. A 29 point fourth quarter which was spurred by forced turnovers and transition dunks propelled the Cowboys to a 90-66 win over the Vikings.

Northwest was led by Christian Hampton with 23 points. The Cowboys were led by Jayden Turner with (31, 10 Rebs, Blk), Christian Martin with (16, 4 Asts, 2 Blks, 2 Rebs, Stl), and Joel Pettiford with (15, 8 Rebs, 2 Stls).

Southwest improves to 20-0, winning 20 games for the 5th straight season and 7th in the last 9 years.

             1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Northwest    16  15  19   16   66
Southwest    23  18  20   29   90

Northwest (14-5)
Robbie Boulton 4
Conner Ballou 3
Johnny Pagano 3
Brandon Thomas 8
Christian Hampton 23
Dean Reiber 21
Shaq Marsh 2

Southwest (20-0, 8-0)
Keyshaun Langley 7, 8 Asts, 5 Rebs, Stl, Blk
Kobe Langley 5, 8 Asts, 2 Rebs, 2 Stls
Milli Huggins 6, 4 Rebs, Ast
Cameron Thompson 5
Jayden Turner 31, 10 Rebs, Blk
Christian Martin 16, 4 Asts, 2 Blks, 2 Rebs, Stl
Nysiek Walcott Ast
Bryce Causey Ast
Joel Pettiford 15, 8 Rebs, 2 Stls
Jeremy Mull 3
Miles Taylor 2, 3 Asts

Courtesy of Southwest Guilford assistant coach Greg Vlazny