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| South Davie’s Kenyatta Brand hit a game-winning 3-pointer. |
The Tigers’ season hit a new high with last week’s 40-39 thriller over visiting Forsyth Country Day. The win was extra special because South lost the first meeting decisively, 51-39.
The loss at FCD dropped South to 1-4. But Kenyatta Brand didn’t play in the first meeting. Not only was he in uniform in this one, it seemed appropriate that Brand made the heroic shot with 1:30 remaining.
Brand had paved the way with 14 points when the fateful play flowed through his hands. The score was tied at 37 and South (7-5) was struggling to hold off the Furies. Brand let one fly from beyond the arc. It might not have been the smartest shot, considering he didn’t look smooth going up, but it certainly looked sweet kissing off the window and banging through the net.
The clincher was Brand’s fourth 3-pointer of the night. “It was from 22 feet, off one leg, and it banked in,” Wall said.
Brand and Denzel Redmon carried the load as South broke out to a 13-9 first-quarter lead. Shannon Dillard came alive in the second quarter, and South had a 24-21 lead at the break.
But the Tigers lived on the edge. They blew a comfortable lead early. They charged in front 35-25 in the third, but kept Wall and assistant Germain Mayfield nervous by allowing FCD to close the third with seven unanswered points. They blew another lead in the fourth, and that’s why Wall left a little unsatisfied.
“We held on,” he said with a sigh of relief. “We missed a lot of easy shots in the first half that could have (blown it open). If we would have run our secondary break more crisp, we could have gotten a lot of easy shots. We felt good coming out with a win, but we let them back in it when we shouldn’t have. We should have stepped on their throat when we were up 10.”
Despite the nerve-wracking moments, there was plenty of good to be found for South: Redmon nailed a pair of 3s for 10 points, his 12th straight game with at least eight points. Brand hit double figures for the fifth time. Center Darius Wilson created havoc on defense, as usual.
“What Darius gives us is quiet stuff,” Wall said. “He got on the boards and his defensive effort is really good. He plays ... subscribe to the Davie County Enterprise Record, P.O. Box 99, Mocksville, N.C. 27028.