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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

After biting the dust for five straight games, after a steep fall that saw it drop six of seven games, the Davie JV boys basketball team found its stride in the final week of the season.

The War Eagles toppled Glenn and Reynolds to finish with an 11-9 record.

Davie 50, Glenn 41

In the final home game against Glenn on Feb. 13, the War Eagles avenged an earlier loss and won in cushy fashion even though they were missing No. 1 scorer CJ Coleman, who had racked up 17, 18, 19 and 22 points in the last four games.

Enter Ben Reid, who picked up the slack with 17 points – his biggest output in 17 games. He was averaging 5.5 across nine games before victimizing the Bobcats, who won the first meeting by three.

“Ben had a good game,” coach Tracey Arnold said. “He had not had a game like that in a while. It was much needed to see him get off to a good start. He got a lot of them in transition, he got putbacks and hit a couple of jumpers.”

The War Eagles built a 36-22 lead at the end of the third quarter and coasted home. They got scoring from Jake Runge (9), Brady Vallance (7), Jayden Warren (6), Aiden Horton (6), Jackson Sulecki (4) and Ian Patton (1).

“Aiden played good,” Arnold said. “He gives me a little bit of everything. He’s all around – defense, makes good passes. He’s got a good basketball IQ.”

Davie 61, Reynolds 53

Runge put on a show, scoring the most points (26) by a Davie JV player in five seasons, but he wasn’t the sole reason why Davie went out on a high note in Winston-Salem on Feb. 16.

Horton and Reid were crucial in the first half, which ended with the game tied at 30-30. Horton had a season-high 11 at intermission. He didn’t score in the second half, but that hardly mattered because Runge would produce a monster performance after the break.

“Jake didn’t shoot a lot in the first half,” Arnold said. “Aiden got going early and he carried us (in the first half). But then he picked up his third foul. Jake was playing, but Aiden had it going and Ben was scoring pretty good.”

How torrid was Runge in the second half? He scored 13 of Davie’s 16 points in the third to lift the visitors to a 46-40 lead. Then he scored 10 of his team’s 15 in the fourth.

His 26 were the most since Luke Williams had 27 in a game in 2018-19. Runge converted 11 field goals and three 3s after arriving with an 8.5 average.

“With Aiden being in foul trouble, he didn’t start the third quarter,” Arnold said. “Jake started, he saw the ball go in and he just erupted. He was shooting runners, taking it to the hole, finishing in the lane – you name it, he did it.”

Reid finished with 14, Coleman six, Warren two and Vallance 2.