By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Southern Alamance might be turning it on at the right time in boys’ basketball.
The Patriots notched their third consecutive victory by defeating visiting Western Alamance 59-51 in Tuesday night’s Mid-Carolina Conference game.
Southern has been busy, with the latest results coming in its fourth game in seven days. The Patriots welcome first-place Southeast Ala-mance on Friday night.
Southern (7-8 overall, 3-4 Mid-Carolina Conference) will aim for its first four-game winning streak since January 2024.
“Every night is big,” Southern coach Dylan Eppley said. “We’re starting to show some results. I think we’re playing better and better.”
That was on display in Monday night’s Tony Perrou Classic when the Patriots overwhelmed visiting North Carolina School of Science and Math in a 78-37 romp.
There were plenty of contributors, with Jasiah Allen posting 18 points, Richard Umberger tallying 13 points, and Sincere Thompson and Braxton Ware both scoring nine. Southern was up 40-17 by late in the first half.
“If we can keep stacking the wins up. . .” Umberger said. “At the beginning of the season, we didn’t get some of the outcomes we wanted, but we’re definitely a team to look out for.”
Southern’s 77-45 home victory against Cum-mings in last Friday’s Mid-Carolina Conference game came in part by holding the Cavaliers to 18 second-half points after building a 16-point halftime lead. Allen poured in 25 points.
Jah’san Thompson had 14 points for Cummings.
Southern fell 67-57 last week in non-league play at home to Southwest Guilford despite Allen’s 23 points and Thomp-son’s 15 points. The Patriots were outscored by 45-30 in the second half.
In Tuesday’s game, Western (5-8, 3-4) played its third game in a row without injured guard Drew Cohn, the team’s leading scorer. Camden Oliviera’s 19 points and Jayden Jones’ 10 points paced the Warriors, who trimmed a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit to 53-49 before coming up short vs. Southern.
Williams tops Western, others
Williams ended a two-game skid that included a pair of overtime setbacks by beating neighboring Western Alamance 84-50 on Friday night.
Bubba Sims scored 22 points and Isaiah Long gave the host Bulldogs an early boost on his way to 16 points. Colby Elliott scored 15.
“We got our confidence back,” Elliott said. “That’s all that really mattered.”
Williams built a 44-31 halftime lead in the Mid-Carolina Conference game.
“It’s good to have that sigh of relief and back to winning again,” Bulldogs coach Jimmy Lloyd said.
Oliviera’s 14 points and Jones’ 11 points led Western.
Williams already has won twice this week, beginning with an 83-67 triumph against South Granville in Monday’s Tony Perrou Classic at Southern. Elliott posted 25 points and Sims had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs (12-3, 5-2) followed that with Tuesday night’s 86-65 victory at Roxboro Person in conference play.
Other results
Graham used big overtime production to turn back visiting Cummings 83-71 on Tuesday night. The score was tied 67-67 through regulation.
The Red Devils are 6-9, 2-5. Cummings, which trailed by nine entering the fourth quarter, fell to 3-10, 0-6.
- Cummings needed overtime for Monday’s 66-62 victory against Vance County in the Tony Perrou Classic at Southern. Thompson scored 18 points, Semajay Wright had 14 points, and Tamorrie Brown added 13 points for the Cavaliers.
- Clover Garden followed last week’s 65-53 non-league loss at Bethany Community with a 47-41 setback at Woods Charter in the Central Tar Heel 1-A Conference on Friday.
Also in the league, River Mill lost 69-32 at Chatham Charter on Friday.
