There are going to be bumps along the way for a team loaded with inexperience, especially when you meet a 3-A juggernaut.

Davie’s varsity girls basketball team lost twice to North Iredell in four days. After putting together back-to-back wins, the War Eagles lost 67-45 at home to North on Dec. 12.

“We had won two in a row and we came in with the mindset that we were competing to win this game,” Davie coach Kevin Revels said.

The War Eagles certainly did that. When the first quarter ended, they were only behind by three points. Trinity Hayes and Morgan Lewis teamed up for 11 of Davie’s 13 points. The Raiders pounded Davie in the second quarter, leading 32-16 at the half, but Davie showed toughness in the third. Hayes had a 10-point quarter. Hayes, Rylea Carter and Lewis banged 3s as Davie stayed within 49-34. North, however, pulled away in the fourth.

North (7-1 at week’s end) is a fabulous program. It went 22-6 in 2016 and 28-1 last year. It is 57-8 over three seasons.

North has two dynamite players inside. London Liles, a 6-foot senior, was in beast mode with 29 points. Rachel Lalonde, a 6-1 junior, can be Miss Inside or Miss Outside. She scored 14 while hitting a pair of 3s.

“We knew their post players were going to cause us problems,” Revels said. “We worked on some different stuff the last couple of days in practice to try and deal with that. We don’t have a lot of experience in the post and they have two really, really good ones, and one that can step outside and shoot.”

Hayes paced Davie with 18 points. Lewis had 10 while nailing three of Davie’s seven 3-pointers. Maddie Tellup had seven. Mackenzie Dalton and Carter had three each. Madison Jones and Klara Lewis had two apiece.

Three days later at North, Davie lost 40-29 to fall to 2-5 in nonconference play. Davie trailed 15-9 after one quarter, 22-11 at halftime and 34-19 after three.

“That’s a good measuring stick for us,” Revels said. “We talk about making improvement all the time. We talk about baby steps every day.”