The Mathews High School varsity boys’ basketball team evened its season record at 4-4 last Thursday after beating conference foe West Point on the road, 80-53.

The Mathews-West Point rivalry is a fairly new one, but always entertaining. During the teams’ last meeting, the Devils fell at the buzzer on a game-winning three-pointer on their home court. Mathews was determined this was not going to happen again.

The Devils came firing out of the gate with an explosive press that was just too much for the Pointer backcourt to handle. Controlling the entire first half, the Devils headed to the locker room up by 15.  The second half was much of the same as some sharpshooting allowed the Devils to expand the lead even further. The game got heated at one point, as the teams traded technical fouls, but the Devils never lost focus.

In the closing minutes, the Devils maintained the margin, eventually winning 80-53. Ethan Armistead and Corey Cox provided much of the MHS offense, ...