Jeff Linville | The News

Zach Wilmoth was a bright spot for the Golden Eagles as he hit 12-14 from the foul line against West Forsyth.

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CLEMMONS — The Golden Eagles fell at West Forsyth 72-45.

The 2A Surry Central squad took on the 4A Titans.

The home team opened the game with heavy pressure on Surry Central.

“For some reason, we didn’t handle it well at the start,” said Coach Ken Eiswald.

The Eagles committed more turnovers (10) than they scored points (7) and fell behind 25-7 at the end of the first.

Most of the Titans’ points came off easy looks in transition, noted assistant coach Jeff Edmonds.

Freshman Darian Slade scored 10 of his game-high 31 points in the opening frame.

After the first quarter, the Eagles still didn’t play well, but they kept the score close, according to Edmonds.

Central committed another 14 turnovers in the final three quarters. And, Edmonds added, when the team did break the press, players tended to rush to get shots up.

Eiswald said he wasn’t sure why his team had such trouble with the press early on. According to Edmonds, the home attendance was actually pretty light, so it wasn’t because of heavy fan noise.

Despite the lopsided score, the coaches found some good things, too.

Even though they had 17 fewer shot attempts, the Eagles grabbed more offensive boards (13-12) than the Titans, holding their own at both ends.

Taking away the easy buckets caused by turnovers, the Titans had trouble scoring on Central’s halfcourt defense.

“We continued to battle and didn’t quit,” said Edmonds. The boys played hard on every possession right to the end.

Also, the Eagles made more free throws (19) than the other team attempted (17).

Zach Wilmoth had good looks in the halfcourt offense.

“He was a matchup problem for him,” said Edmonds. “What we liked about Zach was most of what he got came in the flow rather than him trying to create things.”

Wilmoth was 6-9 on two-point shots and 12-14 at the stripe. He added five rebounds, one block and a charge.

Luke Haymore was 3-6 on two-point shots and 3-4 at the line for nine points. He grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go with two steals and an assist.

Unfortunately, the Eagles were 0-8 from long range. The team went into the game shooting just 18 percent from three-point range

“It’s not our game, it’s not what we should be doing,” said Edmonds. If the ball is passed around the perimeter, and there is at least one ball reversal, then it’s okay to try a three, but the Eagles shouldn’t force up any long shots.

The Eagles started 3-1, but have dropped four of five. Central travels to Mount Airy this Friday.

The Lady Eagles were not in action Wednesday.