Luke Williams’ 17-point performance at North Davidson on Jan. 2 was nothing new. He has been so hot that it was actually his lowest total in four games.

The real story in a 66-53 win was Avery Taylor. The 6-2, 200-pound sophomore who played offensive line for the JV football team came through with 16 points that nobody saw coming. Taylor did not play school ball in middle school. He did not play for the freshman team last year. For coach Ty Woodring, he totaled 16 points through six games, including zero in the previous two contests.

But Taylor was absolutely huge against North Davidson. He went from 16 season points to 16 in one day. Think about that.

“He’s always a high motor guy,” Woodring said. “He’s always physical on the boards and on defense. Tonight the fact that he was bigger and more physical than those guys he was able to get a lot of offensive rebounds and putbacks. He made a 3, too, so he was clicking on all cylinders. He was super impressive.”

Davie didn’t have much trouble keeping a comfortable cushion throughout. Jake Powers (10) delivered his most points in five games. Alex Summers had seven, Zymere Hudson six and Jayden Spillman four. Zy’mier Lewis, Justus Tatum and JT Bumgarner had two each.

Williams scored 16 or more for the sixth time as Davie stopped a two-game win streak for North (2-4).

“There were times when the guy who was guarding him couldn’t keep him in front and Luke was able to make one or two moves and penetrate,” Woodring said. “He made two or three dives toward the basket, guys collapsed on him and he hit Jake for two wide-open 3s.”

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The War Eagles didn’t play badly at Northwest Guilford on Jan. 4. They just ran into a buzzsaw.

“We played some tough teams last year, but I think they’re the best team I’ve seen in two years as coach,” Woodring said after a 67-57 loss dropped Davie to 6-2. “They were easily the best team we’ve seen this year.

The War Eagles trailed 17-9, 33-23 and 51-35. They made things interesting in the fourth, slicing the Vikings’ lead to seven with 3:30 remaining.

“We had them rattled,” he said. “Their coach had to call two timeouts. The momentum had completely shifted to us.”

But then Davie fizzled. The next three possessions ended any hope of a comeback win.

“We turned the ball over (three straight times),” he said. “One of them led to a breakaway layup. Another led to two free throws. We gave them four points right there. Then we turned the ball over again.”

Williams had 16 points, Powers 12 and Spillman 10. Hudson, Bumgarner and Tatum had five each and Summers four.

“It takes a lot of heart and grit to get back in the game after being down by 16 at the end of the third,” he said. “We know we can scrap and claw. We’ve just got to do it for 32 minutes. Against some teams you can’t play good for 20 minutes, play bad for 12 and still win.”