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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

In a span of four years, the Davie girls basketball team has climbed from the hard times of 0-25 to 13-13.

The War Eagles were winless the year before Lindsey Adams arrived as coach. They went 3-9 in her first year, 9-14 the next year and reached .500 last winter.

In the spring and summer, they have been building upon the program’s upward trajectory. In fact, Adams is beyond excited about the near future.

“We have the most offensive skill that I’ve had at Davie,” said Adams, who has taken her girls to team camps at three colleges (Guilford, Western Carolina and UNC-Asheville) and played 17 scrimmage games. “Teams are so consumed with Kenadi (Gentry) that we have 3-4 girls in double digits every game. We had 70-some points with a 20-minute-running-clock half. I mean, I’ve never seen this much offensive talent in the past three years. And we’re actually able to have a true five and a true four along with a one, two and three.”

All three rising seniors – K. Gentry, Malayka Rankin and Peyton Spaugh – are having terrific offseasons.

K. Gentry has offers from Guilford, Brevard, Eastern Mennonite “and I think two more,” Adams said. “She was on my AAU team this spring and her ball handling and being under control has gotten so much better. She’s been doing some training with coach (Josh) Pittman, the boys coach, and her ball handling has gotten so much better from working with him.

“Malayka is playing with a lot more confidence and more under control.

“When we beat Grimsley, Peyton had a behind-the-back pass on a fast break to an eighth grader who caught it and scored an and-one. I don’t know how she did it. Then Peyton had a reverse layup the next play.”

Next season Davie will be bolstered by Kenadi’s younger sister, Makenzie Gentry, who missed her entire freshman year with a torn ACL.

“She’s a very instinctual player and quick,” Adams said. “At first she was a second behind, but now she’s picking it back up easily and she’s getting more stamina to be able to play longer minutes.”

Then there’s rising freshmen who have helped Davie develop immaculate vibes. Avarie Martin is an amazingly promising 6-footer.

“There’s probably going to be four freshmen on varsity,” Adams said. “Avarie has been starting at the five position. She has such a high vertical that she can touch the rim. It’s insane how high she can jump. She can step out and hit the 3, too. She’s got a lot of talent. There’s already some (colleges) calling.”

Another freshman to watch out for is Emmie Burris.

“Emmie hit a game-winning 3 against Northwest Guilford,” Adams said. “The young girls are stepping up and knocking down shots at clutch moments. (Rising freshman) Londyn McDowell is playing well in the paint.”

Oh, and Olivia Smith, a rising eighth grader at Ellis, has made her presence felt.

“Olivia has been playing up with my varsity this summer and she hit a game-tying 3 that sent us into overtime against Northwest Guilford,” Adams said.

Throw in Lamar Russell’s JV team and Davie isn’t a program apt to slow down anytime soon.

“The JV team is undefeated against JV teams,” Adams said. “They lost to South Iredell’s varsity by 12.”