Game Report on East Forsyth-Mount Airy Boys Basketball:East Forsyth Eagles win the Championship Game of the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic Pepsi Bracket

East Forsyth 59, Mount Airy 47

East Forsyth  20-15-16-8--59
Mount Airy    11-11-19-6--47

EAST FORSYTH (6-3) Savon Brintley 14, Zyun Reeves 14, Ty Lyles 12, Khaliq McCummings 11, Rivers 4, Jackson 2, Thorns 2

MOUNT AIRY (4-3) Jordan Newsome 14, Greg Greene 11, Hill 9, Poindexter 7, Hall 5, Sizemore 1

Top-seeded East Forsyth smothered Mount Airy with relentless defense and dominant board work from Matt Rivers & Zyun Reeves to win the championship game of the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic Pepsi Bracket 59-47 Friday night at the Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

In winning their sixth game in the last seven starts, the Eagles tied R.J. Reynolds, West Forsyth and Mount Tabor for the second-best titles in tournament history with five. East Forsyth Head Coach Mike Muse won his fourth overall Spencer Championship, including three in the last five seasons, plus one as a player at North Forsyth.

East, now 6-3, trailed only briefly in the game against the Bears midway through the first quarter & led by as many as 15 points in both the second and third quarters. Mount Airy rallied in the third quarter to cut their deficit to five (44-39) but All-Tournament selection Savon Brintley scored six of his 14 points over the next five minutes to open the lead back to 15 (57-42) to secure the Eagles’ win.

East held the Bears leading scorer Greg Greene to 11 points, 15 below his average, but the stellar 6-3 forward led Mt. Airy with eight rebounds. EF’s sophomore center Zyun Reeves, who scored 14 points, grabbed 12 rebounds & blocked 5 shots, was named the Pepsi Bracket MVP.

Ty Lyles, MVP in the state 4A championship game for East Forsyth two weeks ago, added 12 points. Senior forward Rivers matched Reeves rebound total with 12, despite playing three-plus quarters on a badly sprained ankle as the Eagles outrebounded Mt. Airy by ten in their championship effort.

East Forsyth returns to the court next Thursday night with a snow-delayed game at home against Ragsdale, then travels to Greensboro Page the following night.

NOTE: EF’s Mike Muse appeared in his eighth Spencer Championship game as a head coach, matching the finals appearances of his father Tom, the storied former head coach at Parkland HS, and younger brother Andy, the current head coach at Mount Tabor.

The latter was appearing in his eighth Spencer Finals tonight in the Myers Tire bracket game that followed the East victory, coaching his twin sons Andrew and Aaron on the Spartans’ team. Andy’s eldest son Adam was an assistant coach on the winning East Forsyth team with his Uncle Mike. Tonight 2 Spencer Finals were the first time any brothers had a chance to win the 2 tournament championship brackets on the same night.

Courtesy of East Forsyth Coach Bill Armour