Carolina Forest boys sustain momentum with blowout of South Florence

Most who saw that Carolina Forest defeated then-No. 2 West Florence on Tuesday appreciated the win.

It’s also fair to say that most who have seen the Panthers over the years also awaited the seemingly expected clunker the next time out after a high-quality win.

“We want them to keep thinking that,” coach Brian Brunson said.

Good luck with that.

Carolina Forest steamrolled South Florence at home on Friday, winning 81-50 in what amounted to the Panthers’ largest margin of victory in a region game since moving to Class AAAA in 2008-2009. Although complete records weren’t immediately available, it’s a region mark that dates back more than a decade before they moved up from Class AAA.

Brunson’s squad picked a heck of a time to show up in force, and that complete effort – as he put it – fed into the final score.

“The first half was pretty good. We didn’t miss very many shots,” he said of the team’s estimated 70-percent showing from the floor. “Defensively, we played at a very high intensity. I thought we did a pretty good job on the boards. The spacing and sharing the ball were both pretty good.”

In total, nine different players scored for Carolina Forest, which led by 13 points at the end of the first quarter and by 25 at halftime. Richmond Collier led all scorers with 22, Duane Moss had 15 and Matthew Weatherwax chipped in 13.

The team now stands at 11-4 overall, its most victories since the 2011-2012 season. More importantly, it also snagged the top spot in Region VI-AAAA after the opening week of divisional play.

“This was the first step,” Moss said. “This is region play now and these count. There can be no drop-off. We showed that we can go back-to-back now and not lose anything, continue to get wins. The one win [against West] was more noticeable, but defending our home court was big. Every team in this region is pretty good, so you’re going to get their best shot. Every win really is a big win.”

Packaging the ones over West and South – two teams expected to be among the contenders for the playoffs down the road – in a four-day span likely means Carolina Forest’s under-the-radar start to the season will begin to draw more eyes. After two games each, it is the lone team in the region that started 2-0 and could also start popping up in the statewide polls, something that basically hasn’t happened during the Class AAAA era.

“We had a feeling that our team this year was going to surprise a lot of people and we were going to win a lot of games,” Moss said. “But the recognition is nothing. It’s just basketball really.”

What the Panthers did against South was impressive nonetheless. It proved they weren’t the same old Carolina Forest team that couldn’t sustain after a big win.

But like Moss said, though, this was only the beginning. Next week alone, the Panthers will have to play Sumter and Conway – two teams that have spent time in the state’s top-10 polls this year already – and also navigate a schedule that includes four of its last six region games on the road.

“We’ve got to avoid the roller-coaster effect,” Brunson said. “We can’t be playing like gang busters and then come out the next day and look like a dog. We can’t do that. We have to have a level of intensity.”

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Carolina Forest boys sustain momentum with blowout of South Florence."