WS Chronicle

At the start of the week there were 15 teams looking to take home the title and bragging rights during the 2023 David Lash/Chronicle Tournament. By Friday that number was down to four: Carver, Glenn, Mount Tabor, and West Forsyth.

In The Chronicle Division Championship, it was the (No. 1) Carver Yellowjackets taking on the (No. 7) Glenn Bobcats. The Bobcats were the Cinderella of this year’s tournament. Coming into the tournament Glenn hadn’t won a game, but they were able to pick up wins against Forsyth Country Day and the College Prep and Leadership Academy  to advance to the finals. 

Heading into the matchup against Carver, Glenn Head Coach Adam Cole said his team came together and started trusting each other at the right time. 

“We came into this tournament 0-7 and we’ve racked up back-to-back wins. It was all about coming together and trusting each other and that’s the game plan moving forward,” Cole said. “We’re a young team, we’re still learning how to play together, and I tell them every day, the day that it clicks, it’s going to pay off. So all that hard work and dedication at practice finally paid off.”

Coming into the tournament the Yellowjackets were the favorite to win The Chronicle Division, which earned them the number one seed and a first round bye. In the second round, Carver was able to pull away late from W-S Prep to advance. 

Just before the start of the championship game, Carver Head Coach Antwan Clemons said his team’s success this season was a result of hardnose defense and forcing their opponents to turn the ball over. 

“Defensively we’re going to play hard … they have a couple of guys who can really play, so if we’re able to shut those guys down it should be a fun night for us,” Clemons said. 

The old adage is defense wins championships and that’s exactly what led the Yellowjackets to their first David Lash/Chronicle title in over a decade. From the opening tip to the final buzzer, Carver’s defense was too much for Glenn to handle. And on offense, tournament MVP Jeremiah Glaspie proved why he’s considered one of the best in the county at the JV level, leading his team to the 68-45 victory. 

After the game Clemons said he was proud of the way his team played throughout the tournament. “Our first goal was to try to come into the tournament undefeated. We fell short of that goal, but our second goal was to win The Lash and we got that goal accomplished here today,” Clemons said. 

The championship game in the Lash Division between the (No. 4) Mount Tabor Spartans and the (No. 3) West Forsyth Titans had everything you could ask for in a championship game. There were several lead changes, dozens of big plays, the standout players for both teams came to play, and heading into the game both coaches seemed to like their chances to take home the title. 

Mount Tabor Head Coach Stanley Walker was relying heavily on his team’s experience. Stanley said that’s what helped the Spartans earn wins over Parkland and Reagan, who was the favorite to win the Lash Division. 

“We have a lot of experience on this team so that made it a little easier, but it’s still been challenging,” Walker continued. “ I just try to keep them locked in on the mission we’re trying to accomplish … just keep our eyes set on that goal.”

While Mount Tabor was relying on experience, West Forsyth Head Coach Austin Higgins said he was looking for big games from the freshmen on his roster. According to Higgins, West has nine freshmen on their roster, including two of their leading scorers in the tournament. To advance to the finals, West earned wins over Walkertown and Reynolds, 

“Although we’re a freshman-heavy team, I think they’re ready for this moment. It doesn’t really take much to motivate them, they’re already motivated,” Higgins said. “Coming into the championship I just let them know it’s a business trip and that the goal is to be 1-0 every day. We went 1-0 the first two days and we have to go 1-0 today to finish the job.”

At the start of the game it seemed as if the Spartans’ experience would help them walk away with an easy win. The Spartans came out in a full court press that made it hard for the Titans to run their offense. By halftime Mount Tabor was up 11 points with no signs of slowing down. But the Titans came storming back. 

To start the third quarter it seemed as if a different West Forsyth team came out of the locker room. Shots that wouldn’t fall in the first half started falling, they cut down on the number of turnovers, and took a 55-48 lead going into the fourth quarter. Although the Spartans did battle back and make the game interesting, in the end tournament MVP Kamden Higgins, Chris Chen, and Jamir Wilkins were able to lead the Titans to the 73-68 victory. 

After the game Higgins said at halftime he told his team to just play their game and everything else would fall in place and that’s exactly what they did. 

“I just told them to stick to the game plan and just do what we do,” Higgins said. “When we do what we do, we come out with the win every time.” 

In the third place games, W-S Prep defeated College Prep and Leadership Academy 46-23 in The Chronicle Division. In the Lash Division Reagan defeated Reynolds 50-45.