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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

After South only managed a 30-25 halftime lead against visiting West Rowan on Nov. 16, coach Germain Mayfield absolutely ripped into his boys during the break.

The Tigers took Mayfield’s message to heart, and they threw nothing but haymakers in the third, leading to a 68-37 victory. Noah Dulin, Draeton Nance and Cam Holland provided the offense during a 26-3 run in the third that crushed West’s spirit.

“We played terrible in the first half, and we had a come to Jesus moment at the half,” Mayfield said.

Nance and Dulin finished with 29 and 21 points, respectively. Holland had nine and Tate Sechrest five. William Martin and Anderson Branham had two each.

SD 58, ND 30

South was missing a 24.4 scorer at North Davie on Nov. 20 – Nance was vacationing at Walt Disney World – but it was still business as usual for the unbeaten Tigers.

Dulin and Martin combined for 30 points in the first half, when South raced to a 36-16 lead.

With his brother in Florida, Dulin carried a bigger load and poured in 23 points. Martin added 16 as South pushed its record to 10-0. Dulin is averaging 16.6. Martin has made a phenomenal jump since his seventh-grade year, averaging 11.4 after scoring less than a point a game a year ago.

Other South points came from Branham (6), Aiden Houser (4), Sechrest (3), Owen Parker (2), Paxton Lewis (2) and Holland (2).

“(Martin) is role player and he will do whatever his role calls for at that time,” Mayfield said. “If you need him to score, he will score. If you need him to rebound and play D, that’s what he’s going to do. Or just run around and set screens. He is the ultimate teammate. He can average 20 a game if that’s what we needed him to do. Most of his damage is around the paint, but I can play him from the one to the five and be just fine.”

The 3-6 Wildcats got their points from Edarius Oliver (10), Wyatt  Harwood (8), Isaiah Hernandez (4), Nolan Allen (2), Glen Greene (2), Kellan Wiles (2) and Blaze Sanders (2).

Selma 57, Ellis 38

Ellis dug a deep hole in the first half and couldn’t recover against visiting Selma Burke on Nov. 20.

The Bears carved out a 33-12 halftime lead and rode the hot start the rest of the way. Brandon Forrest spearheaded a nice rally in the third, scoring 11 of his 16 points to cut the Bears’ lead to 46-34. Bowman Blakley and Cannon Smith helped the Jaguars get back within striking distance.

Unfortunately, Selma Burke held Ellis to four points in the fourth and won going away.

Blakley finished with eight, followed by Smith with seven and Westen Barefoot with three. Brady Hall and Graham Weaver had two apiece.

Back-to-back losses dropped Ellis to 6-4.