WS Chronicle

By Tevin Stinson and Timothy Ramsey

The 32nd edition of the David Lash/Chronicle JV Basketball Tournament was one for the memory books. The tournament was held Dec. 26-28 and featured 16 teams from throughout the Triad competing in two separate divisions for titles. All teams in the tournament were guaranteed three games. 

Here’s the scores from the first round of the tournament.

Chronicle Division

(1) Lexington- 47

(8) Carter G. Woodson- 38

(4) W-S Prep- 70

(5) Glenn- 15

(7) Parkland- 50

(2) College Prep Leadership Academy- 58

(3) Carver- 73

(6) North Forsyth- 68 (2OT)

Lash Division

(1) West Forsyth- 66

(8) East Forsyth- 42

(4) Reagan- 63

(5) Reynolds- 48

(2) Mount Tabor- 75

(7) West Stokes- 38

(3 Davie County- 71

(6) Walkertown- 48

CHRONICLE DIVISION SEMIFINALS 

The semifinal games in the Chronicle Division of this year’s Lash/Chronicle Tournament were well worth the price of admission. The games set up a cross-town rivalry for the Chronicle Division Championship on Saturday.

The first semifinal game was between No. 1 seed Lexington and No. 4 seed Winston-Salem Prep. The Phoenix got off to a hot start, taking a double figure lead in the opening frame of the game.

Unfortunately for the Phoenix, Lexington battled back and took advantage of the lack of discipline on the defensive end from Prep. The Phoenix held their composure in the latter portion of the second quarter and when the dust settled, Prep held a 29-18 lead at the half. Winston-Salem Prep head coach Sherika Payton was happy to have the lead at the half, but knew his team had more work to do.

“I told them they just have to keep fighting. We are trying to win a championship, so no matter what the score is, we just have to keep fighting,” said Payton.  

The Yellow Jackets came out of the half with a mission. Lexington started the third quarter on a 10-0 run that seemed to knock the Phoenix back on their heels. The teams traded baskets for several minutes before Lexington eventually tied the game and then proceeded to take the lead on the next possession.  

Payton got his troops back on track late in the quarter and the Phoenix regained the lead by a slim margin heading to the final frame.

The game was mostly a one- or two-possession game for most of the fourth quarter. In the end, the Phoenix held on to win by the score of 50-46. The Phoenix defense held up in the final minutes of the game and it was the difference in the end.

For the next game, the Phoenix would find out who they were playing in the championship game. The College Prep and Leadership Academy (CPLA) faced off against the Carver Yellowjackets.  

To start the game, Carver’s full court press gave CPLA fits. Turnovers and early foul trouble led to the Yellowjackets getting off to a hot start. Carver led 20-8 after the first quarter.  

CPLA settled down as a team and started to get back into the game in the second quarter using their defensive pressure and hitting timely shots. By the time the second quarter ended, CPLA only trailed by two with the score of 27-25. Carver head coach Antwan Clemons’ goal was to keep his players’ heads in the game during intermission.

“We played them a couple of weeks ago and in the second half, we played a zone against them and it kind of slowed them down because we know they couldn’t shoot,” said Clemons. We just came out and did the same thing we did last week and got the job done.”

Clemons’ players must have taken his halftime speech to heart because they came out of the locker room ready to play. At the start of the third quarter, Carver immediately took control of the game. On offense they were getting easy shots and defensively they made things difficult for CPLA. That combination led to a 43-36 lead after the third period.

CPLA kept things within striking distance throughout the final quarter but could never get enough stops on the defensive end. Carver walked away with a 53-45 victory heading into the championship game.

“This gives us big momentum going into the championship game,” said Clemons. “Cross town rivals with Prep and we always play each other tough, so it’s going to be fun in the hive tomorrow.”

LASH DIVISION SEMIFINALS

In the first semifinal game held at Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy, the West Forsyth Titans matched up with the Reagan Raiders. With both teams coming off big wins in the first round, this may have been one of the most anticipated games in the tournament. 

To start the game, the Titans’ suffocating full court press forced the Raiders to speed up their offense which led to several turnovers. Determined to not go down without a fight, Reagan battled back and tied the game 21-21 at the end of the first quarter. 

West Forsyth came out in the second quarter with even more intensity than they started the game with. The Titans started the quarter on a 12-3 run and seemed to never look back. They ended the second quarter with an 11-point lead and by the end of the third, that lead had swelled to 72-39. 

By the fourth quarter the Titans were firing on all cylinders and put away the Raiders 90-52. After the game, West Forsyth head coach Austin Higgins said coming into the tournament his team hadn’t played a game since early December and it showed early on. “We haven’t played in two weeks. We came out a little slow but we were able to find our stride in the second half,” Higgins said. 

In the second semifinal matchup, the Davie County War Eagles faced off against the Mount Tabor Spartans. Early on Davie, who entered the tournament undefeated, looked to be on their way to another easy win. By halftime Davie held a 15-point lead. 

Whatever Mount Tabor head coach Taylor Rhodes told his team at halftime worked, because the Spartans looked like a different team to start the third quarter. It took them no time to cut Davie’s lead to six points. And halfway through the fourth quarter, the game was tied 58-58.

Over the final three minutes of the game Davie County only scored four points, which propelled Mount Tabor to the finals by a final score of 66-62.

CHRONICLE DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

The Chronicle Division Championship was a matchup between rivals from the Northwest Piedmont 1A Conference  and schools that are separated by less than three miles, Carver and W-S Preparatory Academy. 

Coming into the matchup, Carver was undermanned after losing one of their leading scorers and anchors on defense, sophomore Cyncere Goff, in the first round of the tournament to an injury. And early on WSPA took advantage and jumped out to the early lead, forcing more than five Yellowjacket turnovers in the first quarter. 

Behind some strong play from Michael Hill and Trey Moye, The Yellowjackets responded and went on a 8-0 run of their own and took a 18-8 lead into the second quarter. But as you would expect in a rivalry game, that lead didn’t  last long. WSPA’s Timothy Smith Jr. and Kayu Rainey were able to turn up the intensity and helped the Phoenix take the 23-29 lead into halftime. 

The Yellowjackets started the second half on 7-0 run and was able to catch fire from behind the arc and the game was tied 43-43 going into the fourth quarter. 

Carver stayed hot and started the fourth quarter on another 7-0 run. It looked like the Yellowjackets were going to run away with the game and when WSPA’s leading scorer fouled out, it seemed almost impossible for the Phoenix to battle back. 

But they did. With about two minutes remaining in the game, WSPA took a 54-53 lead. Despite being down, Carver continued their strong play on defense and forced a turnover and transition bucket to take the 55-54 lead with just seconds remaining on the clock. 

WSPA had an opportunity to win the game on an open three-pointer with about six seconds remaining, but they were unable to capitalize, giving Carver the one-point win. 

The win makes it two in a row for the Yellowjackets, who also won the Chronicle Division Title in 2023. Head Coach Antwan Clemons said at halftime he told his team that they would have to fight and keep their composure if they wanted to repeat as champions. 

“I told them if you really wanted it you have to go out and fight to get it … I told them cool heads win hot ballgames and it’s always a hot ballgame when you’re playing a rival, so they came out and executed and we got the job done,” Clemons said. 

After losing Goff in the first round, Clemons said they were determined to win it all for him. “We teach next man up and when that opportunity comes, you gotta be able to shine in the bright moment,” he said.  

“Last year I lost my dad around the tournament, and we were able to come out and win it all this year. It was for Cyncere.”

In the Chronicle Division Third Place Game, CPLA defeated Lexington 44-42.

LASH DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

In the Lash Division Championship, two teams from the Central Piedmont 4A Conference, West Forsyth and Mount Tabor, battled for the title. The game was also a rematch of the 2023 Championship Game where the West Forsyth Titans walked away with the win. 

The Spartans started the game on a 10-2 run behind some sharpshooting from Seth Reynolds. The Titans answered with a 10-2 run of their own and was able to tie the game 12-12 to end the opening quarter. 

 Both teams started the second quarter on fire from behind the arc and traded threes several times throughout the quarter. West Forsyth was able to take a slim 32-28 lead into the half behind the play of Kamden Higgins, Xae Mills, Josh Caldwell, and Camren Jordan. 

Reynolds and freshman Dorian Moore helped wheel Mount Tabor back into the game and they tied the contest early in the fourth quarter. The battle-tested Titans responded. It wasn’t long before the Titans’ lead was back up to 11 and they never took their foot off the gas. Mount Tabor did make the game interesting and cut the lead to three

In the end West Forsyth came away with the 73-70 win to take the title. After the game West Forsyth Head Coach Austin Higgins said coming into the tournament he was confident that they were the best team, but he knew it would come down to execution. Including games they played together during the summer, West Forsyth has won 28 games in a row. 

“I just told them to go out there and do what we do. We have the sophomores, we have the best freshmen, we have the best program in the city and they went out and proved it,” Higgins said. “A lot of teams get to the Lash and start bringing down varsity players to try to win this tournament, but we don’t do that over here. We play with the same players we’ve had all year, we coach them up and the kids respond.”

While the Titans made history becoming only the second team to repeat as champions, sophomore Kamden (Kam) Higgins became the first player to win MVP two years in a row. When discussing his play throughout the tournament, Kam was quick to praise his teammates. “My mindset coming in was to win every game. I have a lot of help this year – Xae, Josh stepping up as a sophomore, Jordan stepping up as a sophomore – they definitely did their job and we had one job coming into this and that was to execute and become one as a team.”

In the Third Place Game for the Lash Division, Davie County defeated Reagan 64-42.

2024 DAVID LASH/CHRONICLE JV TOURNAMENT ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Chronicle Division (* = MVP)                                

Original Sifford (Lexington)

Timothy Smith Jr. (WSPA)

Kayu Rainey (WSPA)

Tre Moye (Carver)

*Michael Hill (Carver)

Lash Division (* = MVP)

Noah Dulin (Davie)

Xavier Mills (West Forsyth)

Josh Caldwell (West Forsyth)

Dorian Moore (Mt. Tabor)

*Kamden Higgins (West Forsyth)