Forsyth Central’s boys basketball team pulled out a gritty 76-60 win on the road at West Forsyth on Friday night.

The Bulldogs’ C.J. Smith led all scorers in the game with 28 points, while Hunter McDonald added 22 of his own.

“I was pretty proud of how we played,” McDonald said. “I thought it was one of our better games as a team overall. I know coming in it was a big game because we got a game [Saturday], so it was just a big weekend in general really.”

This game was close early, but Central started to pull away in the second half.

“I thought we played well in the first quarter and a half,” West head coach Frederick Hurt said. “Then for some reason we reverted back to what we’ve been trying to get out of. In the last part of the second quarter we changed how we were playing. We got away from playing good, team-basketball like we did in the first quarter, and in the second half it was tough to get that back.”

Central ended the first half on a 16-4 run, giving them a 33-28 lead at the half.

The Bulldogs (11-11, 3-4 Region 5-7A) led by just two points entering the fourth, but outscored the Wolverines (3-19, 1-7) 27-13 in the game’s final quarter.

This game marks the sixth straight loss for West, and ended a three-game skid for Central.

“It was a complete team victory,” Central head coach Greg Dirst said. “It was big because we lost Tuesday to North. When you lose a region game at home, it stings. It’s a big weekend for us because we play North [Saturday], so it’s a huge weekend for us. This was one we needed to get. The kids were really focused tonight. I was extremely proud of them.”

West girls 63, Central 25

In the first game of the night, West’s girls cruised to a 63-25 victory over Central.

The Lady Wolverines forced 21 first half turnovers on their way to a 33-11 halftime lead.

“I thought we played a good game on both ends of the floor,” West head coach David May said. “I thought offensively we had some good movement, good spacing. I thought we were aggressive when we needed to be aggressive. Defensively, I thought we did a decent job of playing without fouling for the most part, keeping them in front of us and making them make shots.”

Abby Quincy led the Wolverines with 19 points, while Kalie Schlegel added 17.

“Abby, it’s her first game back, she’s had a bum ankle here for a few weeks,” May said. “But she was excited to get back. She did a really good job of getting to the basket and getting to the free throw line. And Kalie [Schlegel] has been coming on strong the last couple weeks. She’s been much more aggressive, finishing around the post. It just gives us another option inside.”