Tabor beats slumping girls

Published 5:10 pm Tuesday, February 7, 2023

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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

The Davie varsity girls basketball team seized early momentum at Mt. Tabor, but the rest of the evening was a major damper for the War Eagles, who suffered their second upset loss in a row, 45-33, on Jan. 31.

When Somer Johnson stole a pass and hit Peyton Spaugh for a fast break layup, Davie had a 13-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. (Spaugh had five of the points.)

The War Eagles had reestablished traction after a 50-39 loss to Reagan four days earlier, or so we believed. The Spartans banked in two 3-pointers and rallied within 23-22 by halftime.

Davie had missed an opportunity to put Tabor in a hole as it really struggled to shoot against Tabor’s matchup zone. Not only did the War Eagles go 7 for 27 from the floor in the first half, they went just 8 of 15 from the foul line.

Davie’s shooting went from bad to worse after halftime. It did not manage a second-half field goal until the 2:04 mark of the third. It was 0 for 7 before Lauren Colamarino dished to Malayka Rankin, who cut Tabor’s lead to 28-27. That proved to be Davie’s only make as it shot 1 of 14 in the quarter.

Davie missed 12 straight 3s, but it still had a chance when Johnson buried a 3 with 4:43 remaining. After that shot pulled Davie within 33-32, Spaugh took a charge at the other end.

But Davie could not put together any sustained success. After Johnson’s 3, the War Eagles missed their next 10 shots and Tabor rattled off a 12-1 run.

Kenadi Gentry and Colamarino had 10 points each to pace Davie. Colamarino added eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Johnson and Spaugh had five points each and Rankin three.

Notes: Although the Spartans (10-9, 4-7 Central Piedmont Conference) beat Parkland 54-40, they followed that upset win with a four straight losses heading into the Davie game. … The War Eagles, who handled Tabor 36-31 on Jan. 3 and had won three straight in the series, slumped to 12-9, 6-5.