Carolina Forest boys clinch region title

The Carolina Forest Panthers did it again.

By taking down Conway 66-51 on Friday, the Panthers clinched the Region VI-AAAA championship for the first time since 2009, when they were co-region champions with Sumter.

“I’m very pleased with our performance tonight,” Carolina Forest coach Brian Brunson said. “We just needed to stay focused, and show them that we don’t quit. We keep fighting no matter the circumstance and do what we need to do to be successful.”

After trailing 10-9 in the first quarter, Brunson knew his defense needed to step up.

“They hurt us with offensive rebounding in the first half and hit a few 3s against the zone,” Brunson said. “We were just hesitant and too into the situation. Defensively, we were not getting the job done and it cleared up our offensive opportunities. I just needed them to stay focused.”

In the end, the Panthers found a groove and clinched a No. 1 seed in the playoffs, which tip off next week.

“I think we played unselfish, we started out forcing some issues then as we started playing the open floor, playing our spacing a little bit better we knew where it was going,” Brunson said.

The Panthers received a much-needed boost off the bench.

“We got some great minutes from the bench,” Brunson said. “It really gave us a lift down the stretch and it gave us a cushion. And from then on, we seemed to start clicking.”

Jarvez Holmes scored a game-high 19 points and Robert Gray added 14 for the Panthers. Brunson said he sees a trend in the Panthers’ scoring each game.

“We win by committee,” Brunson said. “A different person steps up every night and that’s been consistent throughout the year.”

Jahriem Smith scored a team-high 16 points for the Tigers and Devin Strothers added 11.

•  CONWAY (51) – Torrance Evans 6, D. Love 3, Robert Nelson 2, J. Smith 16, Malcolm Green 2, Kahmil Cooper 7, Devin Strothers 11, T. Samuel 2, D. Williams 2

•  CAROLINA FOREST (66) – Aaron Williams 3, Robert Gray 14, JahZavier Anderson 2, Johnny Plump 2, Chris Johnson 2, Jarvis Holmes 19, Adam Glenn 2, Will Brunson 5, Ryan Yurachek 9, Melquan Nelson 8

• 3-point goals: Conway 7 (Love, Smith 2, Cooper, Strothers 3); Carolina Forest (Gray 2, Brunson). Team fouls: Conway 21, Carolina Forest 14. Fouled out: R. Nelson. Technical fouls: None.

• Records: Carolina Forest (16-6, 6-2 Region VI-AAAA).

Carolina Forest girls roll

The Carolina Forest girls had four players score in double figures as they put away Conway 67-42 on Friday.

Carolina Forest broke the game open on an 18-4 run with 1:43 left in the first quarter and never looked back. Marisa Runyon scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed 12 boards for a double-double, Whitney Burgess and Jackie Brengle had 13 points each and Brittney Burgess had 11 for the Panthers.

“I thought it was a total team effort,” Carolina Forest coach Stacy Hughes said. “We spread the ball pretty well and we ran our sets well.”

Danielle Langley scored a team-high nine points for the Tigers and Brianna Steele added eight.

•  CONWAY (42) – Raven Grant 2, Sierra Griffin 2, Danielle Langley 9, Tee Davis 2, Alicia Austin 5, Alexis Sarvis 7, Leshonda Green 2, Tierra Spain 4, Miko Johnson 1, Brianna Steele 8

•  CAROLINA FOREST (67) – Katelin Beatty 6, Whitney Burgess 13, Jackie Brengel 13, Brittany Burgess 11, Ashley Cole 2, Christina Wright 2, Marissa Smith 2, Marissa Simons 2, Marisa Runyon 14, Erin Farley 2

• 3-point goals: Carolina Forest 4 (Beatty, B. Burgess 2, Runyon). Team fouls: Conway 18, Carolina Forest 19. Fouled out: Steele. Technical fouls: None.

• Records: Carolina Forest (11-12, 3-5 Region VI-AAAA).