North Forsyth moved one step closer to clinching its third consecutive Mid-Piedmont 3-A title by hammering visiting Southern Guilford 95-47 on Tuesday night.
Michael Chambers got hot in the second half, hitting five of his six 3-pointers as the Vikings turned a 16-point halftime lead into a 34-point advantage by the end of the third quarter.
North (18-2, 7-0) can clinch the conference championship with a win Friday at Northeast Guilford.
The victory was the 100th of coach Sean Vestal's six-year career at North. Vestal took over in 2006 after eight years on the bench with Mike Muse and has kept the Vikings' program vital.
"It's been a good run," Vestal said. "I am never about personal goals but that's a credit to what we have done the last six years.
"We show up, play hard and play well."
North has never lost a Mid-Piedmont game on its home court, and Tuesday's outcome was never in doubt. But in two previous seasons in the lead, the Vikings also have never won at Northeast Guilford, a fact Vestal presented to his team after Tuesday's game.
"That's something we have never done is won at Northeast Guilford," Vestal said. "So let's go for a win and do something we have never done before."
Lacking its normal home crowd support in a fairly empty Nifong Gym, the Vikings appeared to sleepwalk through a quiet first quarter until Chambers unloaded with his first 3-pointer.
Daniel Woodruff and Edward Valentine followed suit, draining 3s on the first two possessions of the second quarter, then Valentine hit another 3 three possessions later for a 27-14 lead.
Southern, which hit only seven of 26 field-goal attempts in the first half, fell further behind when North scored on seven of its final 10 possessions to build a 45-29 halftime lead. Chambers scored 16 of his 24 points in the third quarter, including sinking four 3-pointers in a five-possession span.
The Vikings outscored the Storm 28-10 in the third quarter to push their lead to 73-39.
"Coach gives us the green light," said Chambers, a junior. "He doesn't want us jacking it up, but if we get a good shot, fire away. Out of halftime, coach told me to keep shooting so I fired it up. I just wanted the ball in my hands, and my teammates did a good job of looking for me and getting me the ball."
Overall, North was 11 of 26 on 3-point attempts. Woodruff finished with 13 points and Kedrick Flomo scored 10. Rayshawn Speas controlled the paint, finishing with 11 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots.
"We shoot the ball well here," Vestal said. "At home, when we see the ball going through the hole, it energizes us defensively. It took us awhile to get going tonight against a team we beat earlier in the year.
"But I was pleased with our offense in the first half but not our defense. We fouled too much, gave them 15 made free throws in the first half out of their 29 points. We did much better after that. We wanted to do the same thing offensively and limit the fouls, and we did."
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