And no sooner had Reynolds defeated Davie County 83-72 in a battle of 4A Central Piedmont Conference unbeatens Tuesday night, than the hype had already begun for the next meeting Jan. 28 in Mocksville.

“The rest of the conference better watch out,” said Reynolds coach Howard West. “Davie is for real. No doubt about it.”

Of course, that’s little consolation to the War Eagles, who entered the game with a 15-0 record. But a little consolation is better than none at all, according to coach Jim Young.

“Last year and even two years ago, it would have been a blowout by the second half,” he said of the Demons’ relentless defensive pressure, a trademark of a West-coached team. “It’s always good to come into Reynolds and not get blown out.

“They could beat some college teams. They’re athletic and quick and deep and big.”

Davie was all of those things too coming into the game. And with an overflow crowd of 2,200-plus fans rocking Bryson Gym, the War Eagles proved early that this was not going to be easy for Reynolds, who had a 13-0 record at tipoff.

When Duane Phillips made a steal and kissed a short jumper off the glass, Davie had stunned the home crowd, leading 10-3.

West never called a timeout. He just called for some defense from his Demons and by the end of the first quarter, his team was up 14-10.

“You don’t have to look far, you’ll find us,” West said of his Demon defense.

The teams settled down after that. Reynolds went up 16-12 but a Jon Orsillo free throw gave Davie what turned out to be its last lead at 19-18.

That’s when Reynolds began dominating the boards, despite a Davie front line of 6-7 horses. It was a tip drill after every miss.

The War Eagles got their hands on several balls but could never control them.

“They got more putbacks than I’ve seen against us all year,” Young said. “The first eight to 10 minutes, we did a nice job. Then they started controlling the boards, which affects our running. When we did get the boards we got the easy baskets.”

By halftime, Reynolds was up 32-25 and the usual rout seemed imminent. But Davie, led by a group of veterans, just wouldn’t go away.

“That’s confidence,” praised West. “That’s the mark of a senior ballclub.”

Twice, the War Eagles appeared to be on one of their patented offensive rolls. Each time, the Demons responded.

Reynolds led 38-31 midway through the third quarter when Phillips fed Marcus Lassiter for a layup. A steal led to Dominic Graham’s pull-up three from NBA range and the War Eagle crowd erupted.

Reynolds forced two turnovers, scored six straight points and regained its cushion.

The last chance for Davie came with 5:37 left in the game. Again, Graham, who finished with 13 of his 22 points in the fourth period, drained a trey and it was 55-52.

Mitchell Bittle, who scored 24 to lead Reynolds, was then fouled while driving to the hoop. The shot went in and he completed a three-point play, leaving one livid War Eagle coach ranting on the sidelines.

Davie immediately turned the ball over, setting up two free throws and a 60-52 deficit. It never got closer than seven again.

“That was a big swing there,” Young said. “We had the possibility of tying the game. It was an unfortunate break for us. We never recovered.”

While Phillips and Graham combined for 48 points, Young’s tall trees of Larry Umberger, Djordje Lukic and Jon Orsillo never got untracked. Each was limited to five points but they spent most of the night battling against a swarm of long Reynolds arms.

“They try to leak the guards out a lot,” West said. “But when you do that, you put a lot of stress on big Larry, Lukic and Orsillo to control the boards against three or four of our guys. And we’re going to be in there tapping and trying for those offensive rebounds.”

Reynolds also made a point of hounding Phillips. Although he scored 26, he didn’t record his initial fourth quarter bucket until two minutes were left and Davie trailed by 13.

“We recognized Duane is a great high school basketball player,” West said. “We knew we’d have to make him work for everything. Personally, I thought he got it too often and too easy.”

Young said the best thing about last night was that there will be a rematch and he thinks Reynolds can be beaten.

“Hopefully, we’ll learn from this,” he said. “We made some mistakes tonight that we won’t make the next time we play them.”

West was asked if his team could lose when it visits War Eagle gym.

“Lose?” West said, marveling that anyone would mention that word in the same breath with the Reynolds Demons. “Lose?”

The next meeting is just 15 days away. Let the Davie-Reynolds hype begin.

Rather, let it continue.

n

NOTES: The fourth quarter was fun, with Reynolds outscoring the War Eagles 32-28. ... All six players who scored for Davie are seniors. Marcus Lassiter had nine for the War Eagles. ... The teams combined to hit 21 of 26 fourth quarter free throws. ... Davie was outrebounded in the first quarter 17-9. ... Davie is off Friday but hosts West Forsyth Jan. 18.

DAVIECOUNTY (72) — Phillips 26, Graham 22, Lassiter 9, Lukic 5, Umberger 5, Orsillo 5, Stevens, Tenor,

REYNOLDS (83) — Bittle 24, Senter 14, Mitchell 13, Petree 10, McDougald 8, Evtimov 8, Russell 4, Foster 2.

Davie County 10 15 19 28 — 72