The Cowboys of Southwest Guilford opened up the 2017-2018 campaign by hosting the Falcons of Southeast Guilford. It has been an emotional roller coaster for this program since reaching the pinnacle of capturing the 4A State Championship in March. On an emotional night, the Cowboys tried to open up the season on a positive note as they start the year in a new classification and conference. The Falcons came into tonight's tilt off of a road loss at Ragsdale, while the Cowboys attempted to shake off the first game butterflies. The Cowboys stepped on the gas on the outset jumping ahead quickly 6-0 by the 6:40 mark. A made free-throw by the visiting Falcons put them on the board at the 6:24 mark making it 6-1. Another 6-2 spurt made it 12-3 with 3 minutes remaining in the frame. The Falcons put a few baskets together to get as close as they would get in the stanza at 14-7, however the Cowboys closed the first quarter out on a 5-0 spurt. The opening segment ended with Southwest holding the 19-7 lead. The second quarter was sloppy and inconsistent on both sides of the ball as neither team looked particularly sharp. Every time the Cowboys looked to push the margin further, the Falcons would take advantage of mental mistakes and the frame was dead even at 18 apiece which took the game into halftime with the score at 37-25 in favor of the Cowboys. Southwest opened the second half with a 7-0 spurt to make it 44-25 at the 6:25 point. A Falcon's three pointer stopped the bleeding, but another 6-0 blink by Southwest put it back out to 50-28 at the 4:47 mark. The teams once again became sloppy and inefficient as they traded baskets the rest of the quarter. After 3 periods it was Southwest up 57-43. The final stanza opened with yet another Cowboy basket, but the Falcons would not go quietly in the night as they fought hard the rest of the way. However, it was too little in the short amount of time remaining. The Cowboys were able to keep them out of reach as the night concluded with Southwest taking the victory at 75-58. The Falcons were led by Jeremiah Dickerson's 23 points. The Cowboys were paced by Jay'den Turner's monster night of 22 points, 16 rebounds, 3 Blocks and 3 steals. Jalen Snipes also reach double figures with 12 points, and 5 Rebounds. Newcomer JT Butler had a solid debut for the Cowboys just narrowly missing a double double of his own with 9 points and 9 assists. Southwest travels to RJ Reynolds High School on Saturday to square off against the defending 1A State Champion Lincoln Charter at 8 pm.