Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

The Davie varsity boys basketball team has run into the wall. The War Eagles lost to East Forsyth by 3, to Reagan by two and to Mt. Tabor by seven. After blasting West Forsyth and Parkland, they lost by 17 to Glenn after trailing by just five with four minutes remaining.
The close-but-no-cigar theme continued against visiting Reynolds on Jan. 21. The War Eagles overcame a 14-point deficit to force a tie at 41, but they ran out of steam and lost 71-56.
“These coaches in the CPC – it’s not like I’m coaching against scrubs – know what they’re doing,” coach Bruce Wallace said. “They’ve identified when (Za’haree Maddox and Zymere Hudson) get out in transition, we are the best team in the conference. But that’s an easy thing to stop, though, because we have to get turnovers. As an opposing coach, you just say get back on defense, and that’s what’s been happening to us. We haven’t been able to run. Everyone knows when we’re in transition, we’re pretty good.”
The War Eagles were not good out of the gate, falling behind 11-2. A 16-8 run got them back in the game. A three-point play by Blake Walser, who scored seven of the 16, and a floater by Coleman Lawhon pulled Davie within 19-18.
Reynolds, however, closed the first half on an 11-3 run to take a 30-21 halftime lead.
“If we don’t go down 11-2, when we got on the run in the third quarter, we’re up by 10,” Wallace said. “We turned it over three times and weren’t getting back on defense. I don’t understand that. It’s a home game, it’s a nice crowd and we’re not getting back on defense. We’ve gotten back on defense all year. We’re down by two (at the end of the third) and you’re like: ‘Wow, if we would have played at the beginning of the game, we’d be up by eight.’”
After watching Reynolds carve out a 39-25 lead, Davie managed to scale the mountain. Walser found a cutting Hudson for two. Hudson buried a 3. Maddox finished a fast break with an and-one. Tate Carney inbounded to Landon King, who slashed to the hoop for two. Walser drained a fadeaway, making him 7 of 9 from the floor at that point. Walser passed out to Hudson, who made a 3 that had the Davie fans rocking and tied the score at 41.
That was a 16-2 run for the War Eagles, who shot 8 of 13 in the third.
It proved to be a painful tease. The Demons could do no wrong in the fourth. They shot 4 of 5 during an 8-0 spurt – Davie missed six straight shots during that time – as Reynolds broke out to a 49-41 lead.
Davie surged back within six on five occasions, Hudson’s fourth triple making it 59-53. But that was as close as the hosts would get.
“(After it was 41-41), we missed four layups in a row,” Wallace said. “If you miss four layups in a row and give up 23 offensive rebounds, you’re not going to win. When we tied it, I thought we were going to win.
“They’re good, though. They’re the best 8-8 team in the state. I guarantee that.”
Hudson (16 points, 4-6 from 3) and Maddox (14 points, four assists) were responsible for Davie’s final 18 points. Walser had an all-around efficient night with a varsity career high of 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting – along with seven rebounds and four assists. He’s averaged 13.2 points across four games.
“We kept going to Blake, kept going to him and kept going to him – and he was scoring,” Wallace said. “He did a really good job. He’s been big for us.”
It was a big week for Hudson. First, he received a football offer from Winston-Salem State. Then he tried to will Davie to victory by catching fire from 3-point land.
“Community colleges are interested in him in basketball,” Wallace said. “He can shoot it. He played great at Reynolds and he played great again.”
Notes: The Central Piedmont Conference is a complete crapshoot. Reynolds lost 59-58 to West Forsyth; Davie blasted West 74-35. … The War Eagles’ second straight loss left them tied for fifth in the CPC. Glenn (7-0), East (6-1) and Tabor (6-2) are the top three. Reynolds is 3-3. Reagan and Davie are 3-5, West 2-6 and Parkland 0-8. … Reynolds got revenge for the first meeting, which Davie (9-7 overall) won 61-59 on Lawhon’s 3 at the buzzer. … Reynolds outshot Davie 46 percent to 41. Reynolds was 26-56 from the floor; Davie was 22-53. … Lawhon had seven points and King three.