Carolina Forest boys basketball falls to Sumter, cutting their playoff hopes slim

If the Carolina Forest boys basketball team wants to see any part of the postseason, it is likely going to have to punch its ticket without its top player.

Against region-leading Sumter, and with sophomore Duane Moss on the bench, a lopsided result put the Panthers’ backs against the proverbial wall.

The Gamecocks made some halftime adjustments to break open a narrow lead en route to a 60-40 victory.

“We came out with a sense of urgency to play hard,” Carolina Forest coach Brian Brunson said. “We got a lot of offensive rebounds that we don’t normally get or have been getting. … Second half, we went back to being impatient, settling for jump shots.”

Sumter (12-6 overall, 6-2 Region VI-AAAA) was leading by just six points at the break. But the Gamecocks went on to outscore Carolina Forest 16-3 in the third quarter. Coach Jo Jo English’s team distributed the ball and finished with 11 different scorers, including 11 points each from Micah McBride and Cedric Lambert.

The balanced attack propelled Sumter – which has won three of the last four region titles – to a half-game lead in the region over South Florence and West Florence, who are both 5-2. Those two teams play Friday.

It will lead to a frenetic final week, and one that Sumter is accustomed to. The Gamecocks needed a victory in the final night of the 2013-2014 regular season to win last year’s title.

“We are really good at home, so the guys just have to clean up the mistakes we were doing [Thursday],” English said. “No disrespect to any team we play, but we beat ourselves. The Conway game, we get back to within three and we have three straight turnovers. That’s the story of our season. [In Sumter’s losses], we’ve had more than 20 turnovers.”

Moss, who suffered a concussion Tuesday in a road loss at West Florence, entered the week averaging an area-leading 19.7 points per game. He has multiple 30-point games this season and has been a key factor in the team’s biggest wins.

He’ll be held out Tuesday at Socastee and possibly the regular-season finale against Conway next Friday, as well. However, even if he does return, Thursday’s loss to Sumter means the Panthers have no choice but to win Tuesday at Socastee to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Carolina Forest (6-14, 2-6) will also need some help.

“We’ve got to focus on having guys executing consistently the way we did in the first half, bringing that type of effort,” Brunson said. “If we’re able to get Duane back, that makes us even better, that we’ve matured in that area, even if it is in the last week of the season.

“That being said, I’m not watching anybody else because we’ve got so much to focus on with us to even be able to think about those other people.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2015 at 10:13 PM with the headline "Carolina Forest boys basketball falls to Sumter, cutting their playoff hopes slim."