Williams’ 47 points not enough in losses

Published 11:18 am Friday, February 19, 2021

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A 12-0 deficit was too much to overcome for the Davie freshman basketball team against visiting Mt. Tabor on Feb. 3.

This was the rubber match. Tabor won the first meeting by 17. Davie responded with a three-point win before being idle for six days.

When the teams met for the third time on Davie’s floor, the War Eagles dug a deep hole in the first quarter, resulting in a 51-42 loss. They got back within striking distance before halftime behind offensive lifts from Gavin Williams and Ty Matthews.

Davie chopped an 18-point deficit all the way down to four.

“Cooper (Bliss) shot us back in the game (with two 3-pointers),” coach Mike Dinkins said. “They were saying: ‘He’s the shooter. He’s the shooter. You’ve got to get on him.’”

But after climbing within four, Davie threw the ball away twice and did not recover.

“We dug such a big hole right off the bat,” Dinkins said. “It wasn’t like we weren’t getting shots.”

Williams was the main man with 22 points and three 3s. Matthews had 10, Bliss six, Trey’von Doulin two and Evan Froelich two.

“Gavin played well,” he said.

Atkins 74, Davie 68 (OT)

The final game of Davie’s season was a shocker. When Davie and Atkins met on Jan. 19, the War Eagles raced to a 16-0 lead and won by 21. The Camels, behind a 33-point scorer, returned the favor at Davie on Feb. 6.

“We missed a ton of free throws in the first half, and it came back to bite our butts,” Dinkins said. “We just couldn’t stop (the player who scored 33).”

After trailing by 12, the War Eagles came roaring back. They even had a three-point lead with 1:40 left in the fourth quarter. Then they were behind by three. Davie scored, forced a turnover and had the ball down by one. Williams was fouled with 2.2 seconds left. He hit the first to tie the game at 63, then missed the second to set up overtime.

Atkins pulled away in OT to spoil a 25-point performance by Williams, who again knocked down three triples.

“They hit eight out of nine free throws in the last two minutes, and we had three to foul out,” he said.

The other scorers for Davie were Matthews (11), Will Allard (7), Froelich (7), Bliss (6), Eli Branham (5), Doulin (4) and Grant Wilson (3).

Notes: Davie finished 3-4. “In three of our losses, we had a chance to win in the fourth quarter,” Dinkins said, shaking his head. … Williams was dominant with a 21-point average. He was 39-percent of Davie’s offense, and he put up 20-plus points in the last four games. … The Nos. 2-3 scorers were Bliss (8.5) and Matthews (5.5).