He got to see for himself Tuesday night in the Davie gym as Phillips’ 28 points led the War Eagles to their 20th victory of the season, 84-79, in the first round of the 4A Sectional 4 Tournament.

But Kent hadn’t heard about Phillips’ passing ability. That is, until the stat sheet showed 10 assists.

Kent hadn’t heard about Phillips’ rebounding ability. That is, until the stat sheet showed 11 boards.

“I’ve always dreamed of getting a triple-double,” said Phillips, a 6-1 senior guard. “Ican do other things (besides score).”

In the end, Davie needed every single ounce of Phillips’ effort. Because when it came to shooting, even Phillips was outdone by some incredible bombing by Page, who looked like anything but a team that finished 11-15.

The Metro Conference’s third seed sank 14 — count ‘em, 14 — 3-pointers, each seemingly longer than the one before. Seven came in a fourth quarter that saw Page score an eye-popping 38 points.

Davie coach Jim Young looked on in horror as Davie’s 60-41 lead after three quarters dwindled to five.

“Some of those shots were from 25 feet! exclaimed Young. “They were unconscious. No matter what they threw up, it went in. It was just one of those things.”

But a win is a win is a win and Young will take it. Davie must now travel to Morganton Freedom Thursday to face the Northwestern Conference’s No. 1 seed.

“Everybody healthy now,” said Phillips, who hadn’t played in almost three weeks due to sickness. “I felt good tonight. I had a lot of energy.”

Especially in the first quarter. He scored 11 quick points, mostly in transition, as Davie took a 23-11 lead.

That’s when Page began hitting shots from what seemed like the parking lot of the Wal-Mart, four miles away. Young’s team went into the locker room at halftime, with their big lead down to 37-33.

“We talked about how important the first five minutes of the third quarter was to win ballgames,” Young said.

Davie responded. Marcus Lassiter, Larry Umberger and Djordje Lukic hit the first three shots of the quarter. After a Page basket, Dominic Graham, who had 17, and Lassiter scored. When Phillips “Duaned” a three, the lead was 50-37.

Davie finished the quarter on a 10-2 run, four coming on spectacular put-backs by 6-3 Rod Tenor who had a Dennis Rodman-like performance, battling Page star Brandon Clifford, a 6-9 UNC-Wilmington recruit.

Clifford poured in 19 but was held scoreless in the third. Young had everyone but the manager and his assistants swarming around the Page star.

“But by doing that, we left some guys open,” Young explained. “We had to gamble because he’ll kill you. He’s a Division I player.”

Clifford was held six points under his average of 25 and was nowhere near his rebounding average of 14.

“They did a good job,” said Kent. “They boxed him out of bounds five or 10 times.”

But obviously, Davie concentrated too much on Clifford in the fourth. Jimmie Fields began bombing again.

Three straight from long range had the Pirates within 66-59.

The two biggest buckets of the night for Davie came next. A near-steal by Page turned into a Phillips jumper and sophomore Sean Stevens bombed in a 3 with 1:53 left for a 71-61 lead.

“I thought (Stevens) hit the biggest three of the game,” said Kent. “We had made a little run and he kinda killed us.”

Thirteen free throws in the final minute sealed things for the War Eagles.

“We would have liked to put them away,” Young said. “But you must understand, good teams will make runs. We had our runs to get the lead. They had runs to get back in it. Our kids executed and scored just enough to hang on.”

Phillips was happy to get that 20th victory, which tied the school record, matching the mark set in 1969 by a Jingles Ijames-led team.

“It was a goal,” he said. “Now, our goal is to get 21.”

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NOTES: Umberger was seeing action for the first time in four games. He has been nursing a bad ankle. ... Davie was 15 of 21 from the line in the fourth quarter. ... Page attempted its first free throw with 1:46 left. ... In three years under Young, Davie has won 10, 15 and now 20 games. ... Lassiter, a 6-0 guard, broke out of a slump with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting. “Itold Marcus that probably the difference of us winning and losing tonight was his effort,” said Young. ... Lukic scored 10 ... The teams combined for a whopping 62 points in the fourth quarter. ... Freedom is 19-7. The Patriots and War Eagles square off at 7 p.m.

PAGE (79) — Robinson 30, Clifford 19, Fields 16, Ball 6, Williams 5, Moore 3.

DAVIECOUNTY (84) — Phillips 28, Graham 17, Lassiter 14, Lukic 10, Tenor 6, Stevens 4, Umberger 3, Orsillo 2.

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