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December 11, 1999
Salisbury Post; Rowan County, NC

Local News

Davie romps to win

BY RONNIE GALLAGHER
SALISBURY POST

           
121199b.jpg (20703 bytes)MOCKSVILLE — It’s downright scary how well the Davie County boys basketball team is playing right now.

In fact, one Salisbury fan made the remark, “That’s 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 didn’t 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 didn’t 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 didn’t 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. I’ve known him since the seventh grade.”

By halftime, Davie’s lead had exploded to 55-24.

“I went in and said, ‘Guys, I’m searching for something to give you heck about,” laughed Young, who admitted there wasn’t anything but praise dished out.

It was no laughing matter in Salisbury’s dressing room.

“I wasn’t going to ask them to stop playing,” said Mathews. “I learned some things about them. Now, I’m going to ask them to adjust and change some things to get better. The conference is a month away and that’s when it’s 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 he’ll bury it. It’s nice to have a scoring point guard.”

Despite hitting the century mark, Young talked defense.

“Our defense, leads to our offense,” he said. “When we’re 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. We’ve got all next week to get that edge back.”

Young was asked about Davie’s “scary” performance.

“I hope I’m 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

 

   

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