Davie County’s girls basketball team shook off a cold start and defeated South Rowan 62-44 in the first round of the Sam Moir Christmas Classic on Wednesday.
Coach Carol Cozart’s third-seeded War Eagles, 6-4 for the season, will meet No. 2 West Rowan (7-3) at 3 p.m. today in the semifinals.
Sixth-seeded South (2-10) was scheduled to meet No. 5 Salisbury (3-4) in the losers bracket at noon today.
Davie missed its first nine field goal attempts and fell behind 6-0 before Shelby Michael scored with 3:45 to go in the first quarter. Davie fought back and took the lead for keeps at 11-10 on an outside shot by Ashley Williams.
“I was encouraged by that,” said South coach James Greene of the quick start. “But they (Davie) were taking pretty decent shots. I was watching them in warm-ups, and I knew they would soon hit those shots.”
“When we started out and we were 0-for-a bunch: This is too good a shooting team. So I knew that was going to turn around,” said Cozart.
After missing those first nine shots, Davie shot almost 50 percent (14-for-30) the rest of the first half, building up a 31-20 lead.
“It was just a matter of, as we always tell them, of playing the defense to give you the opportunity, and I think we did that,” said Cozart.
Offensively, point guard Brittany Walker (17 points, nine assists), Michael (15 points) and Sarah Williams (10 points) sparked the War Eagles.
Davie’s pressure defense helped cause seven South turnovers in the second quarter, which saw the War Eagles outscore the Raiders 20-10.
Cozart pointed out that she was very concerned about South’s 6-foot-1 center Brittney Gaddy.
“I think in the second quarter the press and the little extra pressure that we tried to out on the ball at the perimeter to deny that (Gaddy) on the inside sort of gave us that 13-, 14-point spread that we had,” said Cozart.
“Gaddy did a terrific job inside (16 points, 14 rebounds). We were double-teaming her the whole night and trying not to let her get in there,” said Cozart, explaining that a wing player was responsible for helping cover the South standout when she got the ball.
Gaddy, who went 8-for-13 from the floor, was South’s only double-figure scorer. Guards Katie Willett and Mandy Yost each scored eight.
“We didn’t bring the full intensity in there,” said Greene. “We practiced hard over the holidays. I thought they were ready to play. Davie showed me that they wanted to win that game more than we did. They hung in there when we made runs at them.”
South trailed by 13 early in the third quarter, but got back within eight twice, the last time at 43-35 with 1:35 to go. Davie outscored the Raiders 19-9 the rest of the way.
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NOTES: Davie, seeking its first Sam Moir Classic title since 1995, has won five of its last six games. ... The War Eagles were 23-for-64 (35.9 percent) on field goals and 13-for-20 at the foul line, while South went 20-for-66 (30.3 percent) from the floor and only 3-for-13 at the foul line. ... The teams combined to miss the game’s first eight free throws until Sarah Williams hit two foul shots with 3:01 left in the third period. ... Ashley Williams grabbed nine rebounds, helping Davie stay close to South on the boards. The Raiders had a 42-36 rebound edge.
DAVIE COUNTY (62) — A. Williams 8, Michael 15, Morton 2, Walker 17, Cornatzer, S. Williams 10, Singleton 4, Merlau, H. McDaniel, R. McDaniel 4, Erb, Hepler 2.
SOUTH ROWAN (44)— Khan, Blackwood 2, Gaddy 16, Yost 8, Raper 6, Brown, Willett 8, Parker 2, Russell, Miller 2, Efird, Neely.
Davie County 11 20 14 17 — 62 South Rowan 10 10 15 9 — 44
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