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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

The North Davie boys basketball team trailed visiting Ellis by seven with 4:21 to go. The Wildcats won by four.

“The game was a real barnburner,” North coach Trevor Gooch said after the 48-44 thriller on Jan. 19.

North led 19-18 at halftime, but Ellis took a 35-31 lead into the fourth. It was 41-34 at the 4:21 mark. Gooch called timeout and set up the fullcourt press. Then Landon King, David Patton, Connor Hood and Brady Marshall came to the rescue.

The comeback started with a King steal. He passed to David Patton, who put in the layup. King got another steal, drove and missed, but Hood was there for the putback.

Hood’s heroics were only beginning. He drained back-to-back 3s to turn a three-point deficit into a three-point lead. Marshall hit two free throws to make it 46-41 North. Ellis’ Braddock Coleman answered with a triple to pull Ellis within 46-44 at :52, but King hit two free throws to clinch it.

“I’m really proud of how our kids battled in the fourth quarter to pull out the win,” Gooch said.

Hood had 19, Marshall 13, King 12 and Patton four as the Wildcats (1-1) beat Ellis (1-1) for the sixth consecutive time.

“Lando was our floor leader,” Gooch said. “He played hard and brought a lot of energy. Brady had a huge presence in the post and played with four fouls in the fourth quarter. Connor was cool as the other side of the pillow down the stretch.”

It was a punch in the gut for the Jaguars, who got 13 points from Adam Brown, 12 from Jackson Powers, 9 from Coleman, 5 from Thomas Essic, 3 from Elliott Erlandsson and 2 from Ethan Driver. The Jaguars missed 24 of 31 3-point tries.

“It was a tough game,” Ellis coach Ted Boger said. “We played hard and had our chance to win.”

•••

Gavin Reese and North overwhelmed South Davie 58-33 on Jan. 21. The visiting Wildcats scored 11 of the game’s 12 points in the second quarter to build a 27-12 halftime lead, and they continued to pound in the third.

Reese knocked down three 3s to score a team-high 15 points. Hood had 12, King 10, Marshall eight and Patton five. William Carter and Logan Vandeweerd had three each and Jackson Sulecki two.

“Defensive pressure was the key,” Gooch said. “We were good at creating turnovers and making baskets in transition. Gavin is a big Indiana fan. Tonight he played like a real Hoosier hot shot. Connor and Landon were both really good at driving to the basket and scoring off the fast break. We also got some nice play from guys off the bench like Jackson and Isaac (Swisher).”

Landon Waller led South with 12. Kobe Thompson had seven and Brayden Kistner five. TK Little, Zi Robinson and Jarek Stanley had two.

North improved to 2-1 while South fell to 0-3.

•••

Ellis hung around for a half, but ultimately the Jaguars couldn’t keep up with Wesleyan in a 55-34 home loss on Jan. 21.

Ellis was behind 9-8 in the first quarter and 29-21 at the half. The Trojans extended the margin to 43-28 in the third.

“We played hard,” Boger said. “We just ran out of gas. We played better than our last game at North. Our boys play hard every game. They leave everything on the floor. I cannot ask for a better group of young men.”

Powers was the standout with 14 points, giving him 36 in three games. Brown had seven, Wade Bomar six and Essic three. Conner Dixson and Driver had two each.

“Jackson just keeps getting better,” Boger said. “We got him the ball more tonight.”

Ellis could have certainly used Coleman, who left the game in the first quarter with an injury.

Notes: Ellis (1-2) has lost five straight to Wesleyan. … South Davie lost at home to Wesleyan on Jan. 19.