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| West forward Allan Jones soars over a Spartan defender. |
The Clemmons Courier - As he prepares his team for a first-round state tournament game at Greensboro Page, Mike Pennington can rest easy. He found out last week that his heart is in terrific shape.
Watching his boys varsity team compete in the Central Piedmont Conference high school basketball tournament, Pennington had to watch anxiously from the sideline as West’s semifinal and championship games were both decided by a single shot in the final five seconds of play.
The first went West’s way as a short baseline jumper by Allan Jones gave the Titans a 64-62 semifinal victory over the Reynolds Demons.
But the second, a 72-70 loss to Mount Tabor, was another story. A baseline jumper by Spartan guard Mike Grace dropped through the net with 1.3 seconds left to break a 70-70 tie. After received the ensuing inbounds pass, Titan guard Scott Barnes launched a long distance shot that, amazingly, almost found its mark. But the toss by Barnes came up just inches short, bouncing off the front of the rim and denying West its first CPC tournament title in five years.