Carolina Forest notches landmark win, advances in Class AAAA playoffs

One of the better basketball seasons in Carolina Forest history just got a little better.

The Panthers defeated Bluffton 69-59 at home on Wednesday in the opening round of the Class AAAA playoffs. It was Carolina Forest’s first postseason victory as a member of the state’s largest class.

“History is always important,” Brunson said. “The sky’s the limit with this team. It’s just a matter of what they take as a priority –playing unselfish, playing hard on defense, running the system and really caring about each other. They can do a lot of good things.

“We’re very excited to get our first playoff win. And, yes, I thought this was the team to do it.”

Throughout most of the game, the Panthers displayed many of the reasons why Brunson was confident. After starting the game with positive ball movement and good looks, they also minimized the effects of Bluffton’s top two players, Jermaine Patterson and Tyrese Sandgren, until late.

Brunson said he was concerned about how his team would come out of the locker room after building a four-point lead. But Carolina Forest only got stronger as the game went on. It led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter and was able to grind out the final few minutes – much like it did with a second-place finish in Region VI-AAAA.

Patterson finished with 31 points after a huge fourth quarter, but it was the steady barrage of Panthers players who had the most success, especially after some timely 3-pointers late. Matthew Weatherwax drilled one near the end of the third to put his team up eight points, and Richmond Collier had a pair of 3s early in the final period to give his team a 12-point advantage.

In total, Collier had 15, Ismael Garcia had 11, Damon McDowell and Tariq Timmons had 10 apiece, while Duane Moss and Weatherwax each finished with nine. It was all seen by a home stands that, while not packed, certainly presented a noticeable difference from year’s past.

“I can say they are,” guard Damon McDowell said of fans starting to care more. “We haven’t been a playoff [-quality] team the past six years. Hopefully we can make some noise.”

In some regards, they did just that Wednesday.

The victory was just the third playoff win all time for Carolina Forest, which was in Class AAA prior to moving up to Class AAAA in 2008. The only other two victories came in 2006, when it pulled off a pair of upsets as a No. 3 seed and advanced to the Lower State semifinals.

Since then, even when the Panthers did enough during the regular season to earn a home game, it didn’t go well. As a No. 2 seed in 2009 and then a No. 1 seed in 2012, they lost by double digits. In fact, all of the team’s first five trips to the Class AAAA playoffs resulted in double-digit losses.

This time around, it was Brunson’s crew – one that now owns a single-season school record with 17 victories – that had the game in the bag late. The coach was tapping his feet a bit more than normal prior to tip-off, and he said he was searching for any kind of indicator as to how his team would perform.

“I look at it from the standpoint of during shootaround, what kind of shots are we taking. What conversations are we having,” said Brunson, whose team will play at James Island in the second round on Saturday. “I don’t want them too tight. This group here, I want them a little lax, more than I’m used to. But they were ready. There’s no magic to it. I don’t know what triggers it.”

Maybe not. But at least now, he and his players know what it can lead to.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Carolina Forest notches landmark win, advances in Class AAAA playoffs."