MOCKSVILLE
Its downright scary how well the Davie County boys basketball team is playing right
now.In fact, one Salisbury fan made the
remark, Thats a scary team while watching the War Eagles dismantle
Salisbury Friday night in Mocksville.
Davie shot out to a 15-2 lead right off the bat,
increased it to 20 by the middle of the second quarter and romped to a 101-61 victory
Friday night.
They just came out and whipped us,
marveled Salisbury coach Drew Mathews. I thought we could contain them but they
didnt miss a shot.
While Salisbury fell to 3-5, Davie improved to 8-0
with its third straight rout and second 100-point game of the season.
It was the total inside-outside package for the
War Eagles as soon as the game began. It was either 6-7 foreign exchange student Djorde
(pronounced George) Lukic and 6-6 forward Larry Umberger putting back rebounds or Dominic
Graham bombing three-pointers.
The closest Salisbury got was 4-2 on a Stephen
Blanton bank shot. Davie scored 11 straight before Thad Pryor hit and then Davie ran off
six more points.
At that stage, it was all but over.
Sometimes, it just happens like that,
said Davie coach Jim Young. We got off to an early start and they never
regrouped.
It was a far cry from the first meeting when
Salisbury lost by just three, 90-87.
We didnt think we played as well down
there as we should have, said Umberger, who is averaging double figure points and
rebounds. We were really ready to play. When the game started, we were draining
everything.
If it was any consolation for Mathews in the first
quarter, which ended with Davie up 23-10, Salisbury held scoring machine Duane Phillips to
two first quarter points.
Defense on Phillips didnt last. In the
second quarter, he bombed the Hornets for 21 of his eventual 34 points.
Phillips was on such a roll that once, after
drilling a three, he trotted past Mathews and patted him on the side.
At one time, Duane hit nine straight
shots, sighed Mathews.
My teammates give me the ball and want me to
shoot, Phillips said. And me and (Coach Mathews) have a good relationship.
Ive known him since the seventh grade.
By halftime, Davies lead had exploded to
55-24.
I went in and said, Guys, Im
searching for something to give you heck about, laughed Young, who admitted there
wasnt anything but praise dished out.
It was no laughing matter in Salisburys
dressing room.
I wasnt going to ask them to stop
playing, said Mathews. I learned some things about them. Now, Im going
to ask them to adjust and change some things to get better. The conference is a month away
and thats when its time to get serious.
Davie certainly remained serious after halftime.
Led by Lukic, who hails from Yugoslavia, Davie continued smashing the boards and
outrunning the Hornets. When Young sat his starters with 4:12 left in the third, Davie led
73-29.
From that point, Salisbury actually outscored
Davie 31-29. Markeice Daugherty, Taylor Knauf and Justin Leonard all took advantage of the
playing time to have their best games. Daugherty led the Hornets with 11, while Leonard
knocked down two threes and finished with eight.
We had some guys who got better,
Mathews said.
Lukic finished with 15 points and grabbed 12
rebounds while Graham ripped the cords for 18.
Our big guys played very well, Young
said. Our guards did too but we expect that.
You back off Graham and hell bury it.
Its nice to have a scoring point guard.
Despite hitting the century mark, Young talked
defense.
Our defense, leads to our offense, he
said. When were intense defensively, we score.
And that intensity began immediately.
They came out and played a little harder
than we did, said Mathews. They beat us down the floor and once you get down
like that, you lose a little bit of your edge. Weve got all next week to get that
edge back.
Young was asked about Davies
scary performance.
I hope Im scared to death like that
the rest of the season, he said.
n
NOTES: Davie is averaging 86 points per contest.
... Each team had 11 players score. ... With the score 25-12, Phillips ran off 10 straight
points in 90 seconds. ... Graham scored 10 of his 18 in the first period. ... Davie hit
100 points with 40 seconds left on an Ian Gustafson free throw. ... Davie will host its
own Christmas tournament Dec. 22-23, which includes Northwest Cabarrus, Rockingham County
and a team from Canada.
SALISBURY (61) Daugherty 11, Leonard 8, T.
Johnson 8, Pryor 7, J. Johnson 6, Blanton 6, Drye 5, Knauf 4, B. Blount 2, Jones 2, M.
Blount 2, Speigner.
DAVIE COUNTY (101) Phillips 34, Graham 18,
Lukic 15, R. Tenor 8, Orsillo 6, Gustafson 6, Umberger 6, Lassiter 5, Crump 2, Lynch 1,
Britton, T. Tenor.
Salisbury 10 14 16 21 61
Davie County 23 32 20 26 101