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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

In the fourth quarter against visiting West Forsyth, it looked like the Davie JV boys basketball team was going to break out of its nosedive. But Davie wound up falling in painful fashion, watching West hit a tiebreaking free throw with three seconds left.

The War Eagles can’t catch a break. They’re 1-3 in one-point games and 2-5 in games decided by five points or less.

They lost 55-51 at Reagan on Jan. 27 because they dug too deep a hole. The Raiders led by 14 at halftime and by 18 after the third quarter before Davie rallied in the final seven minutes.

The outcome overshadowed a 20-point effort by Ethan Driver. Thomas Essic had 14, Jackson Sulecki five, Cameron Owens four, Connor Hood four, George Sakai two and David Patton two.

Tabor 67, Davie 48

Mt. Tabor is having a stellar season, but Davie hung with the Spartans for most of the game. It was 31-28 at halftime and 48-38 at the end of the third. Tabor, though, pulled away in the fourth in Winston-Salem on Jan. 31.

Driver’s 11 points and Adam Brown’s 10 led the way for Davie. Owens and Essic had eight each. Isaac Swisher had six, Sakai three and Hood two.

WF 41, Davie 40

After facing deficits to West Forsyth after the first and second quarters, the War Eagles charged to a 35-25 lead by the end of the third. The 15-3 run put them in position to beat West for the second time.

Alas, Davie could not close the deal, losing at home on Feb. 3.

Essic converted a spinning layup to give Davie a 37-30 lead. Driver attacked the paint and scored to make it 39-34. With Davie holding a 39-36 lead, West missed two free throws. But Davie negated that by throwing the ball away with 48 seconds remaining. West turned that error into two points, and it was now 39-38.

Owens split a pair of free throws to leave the score 40-38 at :12.

The final West possession added insult to an already painful stretch for Davie. A Titan with possession of the ball fell down at :05. Davie did not get a traveling call and West got a timeout. West inbounded to its big man and he made a spin move in the lane. A whistle blew for a foul and the Titan scored on the play with three seconds left. He hit the free throw to cap a 16-5 West run and hand Davie its third loss in a row.

Driver finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Owens had 11 points. Brown had six points and a whopping 15 boards. Sulecki and Brady Vallance had three points each. Sakai and Essic had two apiece. Swisher had one point and six boards.

It was the fourth loss in five games for Davie (11-8, 5-7 CPC).