Final Score:Southwest Guilford 39, High Point Central 38
After a delay, the Cowboys of Southwest hit the road for a quick trip to a familiar non conference foe High Point Central.
It was opening night for both teams as both squads looked to open up the 2020-21 campaign on a positive step. The Cowboys are coming straight off of a 2 week hiatus due to exposure at their only scrimmage.
How would the long layoff effect the Cowboys?
Can the mostly new roster mesh and catch on to the system?
The game certainly was not the cleanest. Both teams struggled to find any type of rhythm on either side of the ball. The Cowboys held a slim 8-6 lead at the end of the first.
In the second quarter the hosting Bison put more positive plays together than the Cowboys and the hosts took a 18-14 lead going into the break after a very sloppy first half.
The second half started off with some of Southwest’s best spurts, however it was the Bison that closed the frame out to maintain the same margin at 25-21.
The poor play continued in the final frame, however the length of the Cowboys finally started clicking on the defensive side of the ball. Southwest started to look more like the Southwest that has become their standard. Unfortunately not all of the turnovers were converted into points. To the visitors credit though, those possessions slowly started turning into points as they methodically started slicing away at the lead.
A couple steals in a row lead to transition opportunities for layups and free-throws that gave the Cowboys their first lead since the opening minute of the second quarter. The lead was held briefly as the Bison took advantage of a couple untimely turnovers and made just enough free throws to reclaim the lead with 11.2 seconds.
Following a timeout, the Cowboys showed their grit as they went the length of the court and executed a set beautifully for a basket to take the lead for good. 1.2 seconds was all that remained on the clock. Following a timeout, the Cowboys forced another turnover and the clock ran out.
The Cowboys held on for the tough road win. Central was led by Isaiah Ramazani and Keith Mcduffie with 8 points apiece. The Cowboys were led by DeAnthony Butchee with 14 points and the key assist to Claude Cormack for the game winning layup getting him to 10 points for the game.
No rest for the rusty Cowboys as they hit the road tomorrow night to face off against Ragsdale.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final HPC 06 12 07 13 38 Southwest 08 06 07 18 39
HPC (0-1)
Isaiah Ramazani 8
Keith McDuffie Jr 8
Tre Hill 6
Tommy Sims 6
Kaden Williams 5
Tyler Robinson 4
Tazion Allen 1
Southwest (1-0)
Claude Cormack 10
Isaiah Smith 4
Deanthony Butchee 14
Stevon Harrison 3
Troy Scarborough 6
Mason Drabik 2
Courtesy of SWG Coach Greg Vlazny
Cormack's last-second basket lifts Southwest past Central | HPE https://t.co/0j9bHdjqlp pic.twitter.com/zMppVGgZTR
— Michael Lindsay (@HPEmichael) January 7, 2021