Frank Spencer Holiday Classic – Saturday
West Stokes 10 22 18 6 - 56 East Forsyth 6 8 10 15 - 39
West Stokes (7-1): Isaac Spainhour 17, Luke Mickey 16, Parsons 8, Quesinberry 6, Knox 5, Elliott 4.
East Forsyth (0-7): Ty Lyles 10, Zyun Reeves 10, Leggett 8, Will Rhodes 4, Thorns 3, Williams 3, Trey Rhodes 1.
West Stokes held East Forsyth scoreless for the first six minutes of the game & cruised to a 56-39 third-round win in the upper bracket of the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic Saturday afternoon at RJ Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem. The Wildcats scored the first 10 points of the game & never trailed enroute to their seventh win in eight starts.
The Eagles rallied early in the second period to cut their deficit to two (10-8) but then went cold against West’s zone, as the winners scored 22 of the game’s next 26 points to open the margin to 20 & take control of the game.
Issac Spainhour led all scorers with 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the two-time Frank Spencer Holiday Classic champions while teammate Luke Mickey scored 16 & added seven rebounds for the winners. Ty Lyles & Zyun Reeves led the Eagles in scoring with 10 apiece & the latter led all rebounders (11) despite the Wildcats dominating the boards (+11) for the game.
The West Stokes game was the last in a very difficult season-opening sequence for East Forsyth, which has played seven games and had the benefit of a complete roster for only four practices. The Eagles defended their North Carolina 4A football championship on December 14 & did not yield the 13 players on that roster scheduled for basketball duty until 12 days ago.
The cumulative winning percentage of the seven East opponents (six of them road games) so far in the 2019-20 season is 70+% and includes a 2019 state 4A semifinalist, both upper bracket finalists from the 2018 & 2019 Frank Spencer tournaments and 2019 Western Piedmont Conference champions. The total 2018-19 records of East Forsyth’s opponents so far this season was 121-66, enhancing the challenge for first-year coach Adam Muse.
The Eagles now get a well-earned break before returning to action January 2 at Mount Airy, the first in another tough stretch that includes eight games in 16 days, all but three on the road. Central Piedmont Conference play begins for East Forsyth on January 7 at home against West Forsyth.
Submitted by Coach Bill Armour