East Forsyth 73, Rocky River 54
EAST FORSYTH 22- 19-11-21 -- 73 ROCKY RIVER. 16- 6-12-17 -- 54
EAST FORSYTH (16-9) Savon Brintley 17, Matt Rivers 16, Khaliq McCummings 15, Reeves 9, Nichols 8, Jones 3, Lyles 3, Jackson 2
ROCKY RIVER (13-12) Nick Burns 13, Calik Thomas 12, Tobias Forte 10, T.Smith 7, N.Smith 5, Perry 5, Jones 2
East Forsyth dominated visiting Rocky River 73-54 to win its first-round game in the NC state 4A playoffs and advance to a second-round match-up at Charlotte Olympic on Thursday. The Eagles, now 16-9, built steadily on early momentum, leading by as many as 18 points (41-23) in the second quarter and as many 21 on multiple occasions in the second half.
The Ravens, who advanced to the state playoffs from Charlotte’s difficult Southwestern 4A Conference, challenged East early in the fourth quarter, closing their deficit to nine (56-47) before the Eagles spread the floor & pulled away begins to leads of as many as 21 behind balanced scoring and a 15-rebound advantage over the taller visitors.
Savon Brintley led East Forsyth with 17 points and Matt Rivers added 16 and a game-high 15 rebounds. Khaliq McCummings scored 15 points and sophomore center Zyun Reeves added 9 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Burns led the Ravens with 13 points but leading scorer Narique Smith, who was averaging 19 points+ entering the game, was held to five points by the swarming Eagles defense.
Courtesy of East Forsyth assistant coach Bill Armour