Davie girls’ season ends

WINSTON-SALEM — Seldom in the course of a basketball game have so many worked so hard, but had so little to show for it.

On a good night, Davie County’s fourth-seeded girls basketball team could have upset No. 1 Mount Tabor in the 4A Central Piedmont Conference Tournament at R.J. Reynolds and kept its season alive.

But as hard as the War Eagles toiled and as badly as they wanted this one, Tuesday night wasn’t one of their better games. This was mostly an exercise in pure frustration. Davie missed nine of 10 3-point attempts, coughed up 26 turnovers and got worked over on the backboards in the second half by the Spartans’ Heather Schleupner and April Goolsby in a painful 56-43 loss.

“We all played our hearts out,” sighed War Eagle senior Shelby Michael. “We tried and tried and tried. It just wouldn’t go in for us.”

Davie was in a win-or-pack-it-in situation, while the Spartans (13-11) were already assured of the CPC’s top seed for the state playoffs. That translated into a huge emotional edge for the War Eagles, who jumped out 17-10 behind the play of Michael and fellow senior Emily Morton.

Davie still led 21-15 midway through the second quarter, but that’s when Schleupner, who started her career at Davie before transferring, kicked into gear. Schleupner, didn’t score in the game’s first 12 minutes, but poured in 10 points over the next four minutes to key a 14-1 Spartan run to close the first half. Tabor led 29-22 at the break.

The real frustration for the War Eagles (14-12) came in the third quarter. A scoring spree by Goolsby pushed the lead to nine, before Davie guard Brittany Walker’s lefty layup cut the gap to 37-30.

After Walker’s bucket, Davie got a ton of defensive stops, but couldn’t gain any ground. Twice, Walker made brilliant steals only to miss uncontested layups. On one of those, Heather McDaniel hustled down the floor and grabbed the rebound, but then missed a wide-open follow.

No one else in black could score either — even Michael. In a span of nine minutes, Davie accumulated all of five points and the rope of the 2000-01 season slipped through its clawing fingernails.

“We did a good job defensively in that stretch of keeping the ball out of the hands of Walker and Michael,” said Spartan coach Dennis Ring.

Then Schleupner got hot again, scoring six points in a flurry as the Spartans pushed the edge to 54-37 and put Davie down for the count.

There was one final highlight for Michael, who made the last shot of her high school career, dribbling behind her back with 26 seconds left and then floating in for a three-point play with her left hand. It was a fitting close to a phenomenal season that has made Michael a candidate for CPC Player of the Year honors.

“Coach (Carol) Cozart told me I had I great year,” said Michael through a small waterfall of tears. “I thought the whole team did the best it could.”

“That girl (Michael) gets after it,” said an admiring Ring. “She plays so hard.”

All the War Eagles did. But this was one of those nights. And now they’re out of second chances.

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NOTES: Mount Tabor will play the winner of tonight’s South Rowan-R.J. Reynolds game in the finals. To say the least, the CPC’s been a strange girls league. Last-place West Forsyth beat first-place Tabor just a few days ago. “We can beat anyone and we can lose to anyone,” sighed Ring. ... Michael scored 22 and Walker had 13 points and six steals in an easy first-round win over West Forsyth. ... Sophomores Dawn Singleton and Ashley Williams did the bulk of Davie’s rebounding.

FIRST ROUND

WEST FORSYTH (39)— Eccles 9, Guthrie 6, Thrower 6, L. Swaim 5, E. Swain 3, Carter 2, Wright 2, Kiger 2, McElfresh 1, Payne 3.

DAVIE COUNTY(65) — Michael 22, Walker 13, Morton 6, Cornatzer 5, A. Williams 5, Singleton 4, Merlau 4, S. Williams 3, Erb 3, H. McDaniel, R. McDaniel.

W. Forsyth 17 5 10 7 — 39

Davie Co. 15 17 16 17 — 65

SEMIFINALS

DAVIECOUNTY (43)— S. Williams, Walker 11, H. McDaniel, Michael 14, A. Williams 8, Cornatzer 2, Morton 4, Singleton 4, Merlau, Erb.

MOUNTTABOR(56) — Caldwell 5, Reese 6, Bethea 2, Crafton 4, Herb 7, Schleupner 16, Goolsby 14, Decker 2.

Davie Co. 17 5 9 12 — 43

Mt. Tabor 10 19 12 15 — 56