Slade comes through for West Forsyth
PFAFFTOWN – Darion Slade played his first full game Saturday night for No. 4 West Forsyth, and it was a good thing for the Titans and coach Rusty LaRue that he was able to
Slade returned to the court briefly last week against Davie County after suffering a thumb injury a month ago while playing football. On Saturday, he led West Forsyth with 20 points and hit a go-ahead free throw with 11 seconds left to beat No. 5 Forsyth Country Day 59-56.
Slade made a free throw to give the Titans (5-5) a 57-56 lead, but the Furies (13-2) got the ball back after he missed the second free throw. Tripp Greene was stripped by Darriel Brown, who played at FCD last year along with K.J. Henry.
Maverick LaRue, Rusty LaRue’s son, got the ball before being fouled by Nick Evtimov. Maverick LaRue went to the free-throw line and nailed both free throws to give the Titans a 59-56 lead.
“We just played hard. We didn’t give up just because it was a tie game or they were winning at halftime,” said Slade. “We played hard throughout the whole game.”
Slade finished 6 of 17 from the field and made 6 of 8 free-throw attempts.
The Titans struggled from the line all night, including going 7 of 18 in the fourth quarter.
In the closing second of the game, an inbound pass from FCD's Ivan Millicevic was stolen by Dae Dae Myers, who was fouled. Myers missed the free throw, but he picked up the loose ball and later missed another free throw. Millicevic rebounded the miss, but the clock expired.
West Forsyth plays No. 1 Mount Tabor at Joel Coliseum at 7 p.m. on Monday. FCD will play in the loser’s bracket against West Stokes on Monday at Reagan at 12:45.
Bruno Solomun, who led FCD with 15 points, fouled out with 6:55 left. Millicevic and Nick Evtimov also fouled out.
Tripp Greene scored 14 points for the Furies, and Henry added 10 for the Titans.
“I’m proud of them for their effort,” said coach Howard West of FCD. “I thought they played as hard as they could play. Sixteen free-throw differential, that’s kind of hard to overcome.”
Rusty LaRue, who was the athletic director and basketball coach at FCD from 2006-09, said he feels like West Forsyth is finally coming together after early-season struggles.
“We’re still trying to get our guys on the same page, with Slade — that was his first real game playing,” said LaRue. “He helped. He’s a gamer.”
WEST FORSYTH 59, FORSYTH COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL 56
Forsyth Country Day School 20 18 10 8 — 56
West Forsyth 15 20 15 9 — 59
FCDS (13-2) Bruno Solomun 15, Tripp Greene 14, Cain 9, Mayhan 6, Millicevic 5, Evtimov 5, Singleton 2
WFHS (5-5) Darion Slade 20, K.J. Henry 10, Brown 9, LaRue 7, Caldwell 4, Uloko 4, Myers 3, Joyner 1, McMillian 1
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PFAFFTOWN – Darion Slade played his first full game Saturday night for No. 4 West Forsyth, and it was a good thing for the Titans and coach Rusty LaRue that he was able to
Slade returned to the court briefly last week against Davie County after suffering a thumb injury a month ago while playing football. On Saturday, he led West Forsyth with 20 points and hit a go-ahead free throw with 11 seconds left to beat No. 5 Forsyth Country Day 59-56.
Slade made a free throw to give the Titans (5-5) a 57-56 lead, but the Furies (13-2) got the ball back after he missed the second free throw. Tripp Greene was stripped by Darriel Brown, who played at FCD last year along with K.J. Henry.
Maverick LaRue, Rusty LaRue’s son, got the ball before being fouled by Nick Evtimov. Maverick LaRue went to the free-throw line and nailed both free throws to give the Titans a 59-56 lead.
“We just played hard. We didn’t give up just because it was a tie game or they were winning at halftime,” said Slade. “We played hard throughout the whole game.”
Slade finished 6 of 17 from the field and made 6 of 8 free-throw attempts.
The Titans struggled from the line all night, including going 7 of 18 in the fourth quarter.
In the closing second of the game, an inbound pass from FCD's Ivan Millicevic was stolen by Dae Dae Myers, who was fouled. Myers missed the free throw, but he picked up the loose ball and later missed another free throw. Millicevic rebounded the miss, but the clock expired.
West Forsyth plays No. 1 Mount Tabor at Joel Coliseum at 7 p.m. on Monday. FCD will play in the loser’s bracket against West Stokes on Monday at Reagan at 12:45.
Bruno Solomun, who led FCD with 15 points, fouled out with 6:55 left. Millicevic and Nick Evtimov also fouled out.
Tripp Greene scored 14 points for the Furies, and Henry added 10 for the Titans.
“I’m proud of them for their effort,” said coach Howard West of FCD. “I thought they played as hard as they could play. Sixteen free-throw differential, that’s kind of hard to overcome.”
Rusty LaRue, who was the athletic director and basketball coach at FCD from 2006-09, said he feels like West Forsyth is finally coming together after early-season struggles.
“We’re still trying to get our guys on the same page, with Slade — that was his first real game playing,” said LaRue. “He helped. He’s a gamer.”
WEST FORSYTH 59, FORSYTH COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL 56
Forsyth Country Day School 20 18 10 8 — 56
West Forsyth 15 20 15 9 — 59
FCDS (13-2) Bruno Solomun 15, Tripp Greene 14, Cain 9, Mayhan 6, Millicevic 5, Evtimov 5, Singleton 2
WFHS (5-5) Darion Slade 20, K.J. Henry 10, Brown 9, LaRue 7, Caldwell 4, Uloko 4, Myers 3, Joyner 1, McMillian 1
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