But then again, it’s unlikely that anyone has ever had a game any better than the one the gutsy senior bounced back with on Friday as Davie erupted for an electrifying 84-73 4A Central Piedmont Conference win over R.J. Reynolds.

One night after missing his last 11 shots, Graham was en fuego against the Demons. He buried six 3-pointers and slithered and slid for impossible layups around, over and through Reynolds defenders. One night after a rare failure to reach double figures, Graham reached for the stars.

As a result, Davie (17-2, 2-2 CPC) reached the win column against Howard West’s always dominating Demons (15-2, 2-2) for the first time since 1993. The War Eagles had lost 15 straight to the perennial league bullies.

“We heard all about that history stuff,” said Graham. “But we went out and got it done.”

Indeed the War Eagles did. With Duane Phillips darting and drilling for his standard 27 points, and with Jon Orsillo and Rod Tenor contributing monster games off the bench.

“What a difference 24 hours makes,” beamed Davie coach Jim Young, whose normally perfect hair was wonderfully wet and wild after a crazed victory dunking from his emotional team. “I’m just so proud and excited. To be as flat as we were on Thursday and then to beat one of the most talented and best-coached teams in the state one night later, it’s unbelievable.”

And speaking of differences, what a difference a year has made for Graham.

“Last year, he was just a shy little guy on the bench,” marveled Young. “Now — now, he’s a guy who wants to take it over.”

“I just did what I had to do,” said Graham. “I guess I felt it.”

The teams were as evenly matched as possible. It was tied at 15 after a quarter, knotted at 35 at the half, and still even-Steven at 55-55 after three quarters.

The key first-half sequence for Davie came after the Demons blew out to a 29-19 lead midway through the second quarter and threatened to run away and hide.

But Tenor got a huge hoop inside to stop the bleeding. Then Graham, who had missed his first two shots badly and looked to be on his way to a repeat of Thursday’s woes, brought a sigh of relief to Young and a capacity house of War Eagle fans with a what-me-worry, 3-point bomb.

That shot ignited Davie, which suddenly looked once again like the team that had posted an undefeated December to remember. The War Eagles scored 16 precise and powerful points over the last three minutes of the first half.

The 6-7 Orsillo, who played perhaps a minute on Thursday, got the crowd going bonkers in the opening seconds of the second half with a couple of flying jams. His dunks sent the message that this time, Davie, which had lost a tough one recently at Reynolds, would not back down.

“Jon’s an emotional guy,” said Young. “Sometimes he has trouble with those emotions, but tonight he channeled every bit of his emotion into the game. When he does that, he’s a real player.”

The next pivotal sequence came with 7:02 left in the game when Graham nailed a 3 to push a two-point Davie lead to 61-56.

Reynolds’ Michael Russell calmly answered with his own 3 just 10 seconds later, but even as the Demons punched the air, Phillips was hitting them with yet another 3 from the deep corner. It was the third 3-ball to fall in a span of 20 seconds, a back-at-ya rainbow that clearly said: “This is our house and this game is ours.”

“The level of the game just kept rising,” said Young. “When teams are making runs like that, you expect someone to fold. No one would.”

Not yet, at least. But the back-to-back missiles by Graham and Phillips had finally planted seeds of doubt in the heads of the Demons. They had played all night with extreme poise, but now they began to rush. Orsillo rejected an ill-advised shot and the ever-present Graham gathered in the ball and finished with a leaning layup right out of a game of Twister for a 66-59 lead.

Reynolds closed to within 71-67 at 3:19, but that final, desperate Demon charge was blunted by two cool free throws by a rejuvenated Djordje Lukic and an immense arching floater from left of the lane by the super-charged Graham.

“Things just took their course,” said Graham. “Reynolds, they’re a good team, but we kept taking it to the basket, taking it to them. Finally, we saw them put their heads down.”

Tenor was the one that kept those heads down. He was the “foul that guy” target for the Demons down the stretch. All the defensive stopper did was convert six late free throws as the War Eagles’ margin steadily grew.

Davie fans rushed the floor when it was over, mobbing the same heroes who had been zeroes 24 short hours earlier.

“We played hard against South, take nothing away from them,” said Young. “But against South we played hard as individuals. Tonight, we played hard and we played together as a team. That made all the difference in the world.”

NOTES: Smooth junior Ilia Evtimov, brother of former UNC Tar Heel, Vasco, led the Demons with 19 points. Mitchell Bittle added 17. ... Orsillo had 12 points and Tenor 11. Both had six boards .... Phillips and Graham combined to shoot a stunning 19-for-34 with eight 3s. ... Davie made half of its field goal tries (28-for-56) and 20 of 30 free throws.

R.J. REYNOLDS (73) — Russell 10, Bittle 17, Mitchell 6, McDougald 3, Evtimov 19, Reid 3, Foster 4, Senter 9, Petree 2, McChesney.

DAVIE (84) — Lukic 9, Orsillo 12, Phillips 27, Graham 25, Tenor 11, Umberger, Lassiter, Peacock.

Reynolds 15 20 20 18 — 73