There were more than a few double-takes when area basketball fans saw that Davie County
would be the top boys seed in the Sam Moir Christmas Classic, which got under way this
afternoon.Most of them probably came from
Davie County.
The War Eagles have never won much on the
hardwood. Records like 4-19 and 3-20 were commonplace until two years ago.
Thats when Jim Young looked on his Internet.
He was living in Pennsylvania but wanting to move south. He saw an opening in a small town
called Mocksville, interviewed for the job and suddenly was introduced to the flavor of
Southern iced tea.
In return, he introduced Davie to winning
basketball.
The War Eagles, behind 25-point per game scorer
Duane Phillips and a towering front line of 6-foot-7 players, are 11-0. They open
Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of Salisbury-South Rowan.
There is a fever pitch surrounding the Moir
Classic this season because Davie isnt the only undefeated team. Mike Gurleys
West Rowan club is 10-0 and fans could be watching the very first championship meeting
between undefeated teams.
North Rowan, the third seed, may have something to
say about it, however. At 5-2, the Cavs have lost only to West and a semifinal meeting
could be in the cards if both teams win first round games.
While the boys teams at Davie, West and North are
healthy and geared for a run at a title, South Rowans girls havent been as
fortunate. Raider senior Jennifer Morgan suffered gashes in her chin and mouth when she
fell to the floor head-first during last Wednesdays South-West game and may be out
of action. Morgan, Souths No. 2 scorer, needed more than 40 stitches to close the
wounds and was unable to practice Monday.
Winless Salisbury, which has been playing without
leading scorer and rebounder Sherree Gillespie since early in the season, hoped to have
the senior back for todays game against East Rowan. Gillespie averaged 24 ppg in the
Hornets first two contests.
The co-favorites to win the girls title are North
and West who have split two early-season meetings. North will open with either South or
Davie on Wednesday, while West will tangle with East or Salisbury. The Cavs are led by
senior frontcourt player Megan Honeycutt (17 ppg), while senior guard Kari Schenk (14.8
ppg) paces the Falcons.
Defending champ East is the darkhorse to win the
title, while fourth-seeded Davie is capable of pulling off an upset.
n
Mike London contributed to this report.