EAST BEND — North Surry captured the Foothills 2A Conference Tournament Championship on Friday by defeating Forbush 93-76.
The top-seeded Greyhounds faced heavy resistance from the No. 2 Falcons, and neither team led by more than two possessions through the first three quarters. After nine lead changes and four ties in the first 11 minutes of game time, North Surry took the lead at 26-24 and stayed ahead for the remainder of the game.
The Hounds’ season sweep of the Falcons gives North Surry its first conference tournament title since the 2016-17 season.
The game was highlighted by numerous superstar performances on both teams. For the champion Hounds: Jahreece Lynch, named FH2A Tournament Most Outstanding Player, led all scorers with 33 points, and added six rebounds and four assists; James McCreary and Cam Taylor recorded double-doubles, McCreary with 20 points, 10 boards, seven assists and four steals, and Taylor with 20 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. Kolby Watson also scored in double figures for North Surry with 15 points.
Forbush’s Peyton Compton, who was named FH2A Conference Player of the Year following the game, led the Falcons with 20 points while tacking on three steals, three rebounds and three assists. Cannon Doub had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, as well as two steals, a block and an assist, and Dawson Graham did a little of everything with five points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
Noah Crews was the third Falcon player to score in double figures with 14 points, which included four 3-pointers.
The Falcons were deadly from beyond the arc all night, knocking down 10-of-24 attempts (42%), while the Hounds only shot 5-of-17 from deep (29%). It didn’t make a difference down the stretch, though, as North Surry managed to score 33 fourth-quarter points without attempting a single 3-pointer.
Also contributing to North’s impressive fourth quarter, in which Forbush never scored more than three points uninterrupted, was the Hounds’ performance at the free throw line. North Surry shot 15-of-17 (88%) from the stripe in the fourth, and finished the game 20-of-23 (87%) at the line.
In spite of the final score, North only held a two-possession lead heading into the fourth quarter, 60-54, and with 3:10 remaining in the game, 71-65. Jackson Smith completed an and-1 with 3:07 on the clock. Watson added two free throws at 2:38, and Taylor scored from the low block at 2:16 to complete a 7-0 run in less than 60 seconds.
North Surry scored 22 points in the final 3:07.
The Falcons drop to 20-6 overall, and three of those losses came against the Greyhounds. North Surry won both regular season meetings by single digits: 99-91 and 78-71.
North Surry improves to 19-4 overall with Friday’s championship victory. The Hounds have won 11 of their past 12 games, and in that span have scored an average of 76.3 points while giving up 61.8 points.
The N.C. High School Athletic Association RPI rankings (as of February 18) have North Surry as the No. 5 team in the 2A West, while Forbush sits at No. 12. Both teams received automatic bids for the state playoffs.
Scoring
Forbush – 16, 17, 21, 22 = 76
North Surry – 15, 23, 22, 33 = 93
FB: Peyton Compton 20, Cannon Doub 19, Noah Crews 14, Caden Funk 8, Joe Hennings 6, Dawson Graham 5, Brandley Luna 4
NS: Jahreece Lynch 33, Cam Taylor 20, James McCreary 20, Kolby Watson 15, Jackson Smith 5
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com