By Brian Pitts
sports@salisburypost.com
MOCKSVILLE ó There are a lot of uncertainties surrounding the Davie County girls this season.
But here’s one certainty: Davie will not be burdened by high expectations.
Last year, the War Eagles were 8-15 overall and 2-8 in the CPC, finishing last in the six-team league. Their leading scorer, Meisha Fowler, is gone after averaging 11.5 points and becoming one of the school’s top career scorers (1,092 points).
Davie has endured a recession with three straight losing seasons. Only one time in the school’s 52-year history has there been four consecutive losing seasons (1997-2000).
Third-year coach Debbie Evans is taking a wait-and-see approach.
“I’ve seen some good things, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” she said. “There’s some potential there. We’ve just got to keep working.”
The War Eagles face long odds in bucking the 2006-2008 trend (8-16, 10-16, 8-15) because no returner averaged as much as eight points.
The top returners are Kellie Brown (7.8 ppg), Tonesha Turner (3.4), Elyssa Tucker (3.4), Ashley Smoot (3.2), Sarah Evans (3.1), Maleia Stevenson (2.2) and Kaycee Dixon (1.8).
The roster includes seniors Brown, Evans and Turner; juniors Dixon, Mechel Gadson, Smoot, Asia Steed, Stevenson and Tucker; sophomores Alex Keiser and Brittini Stewart; and freshman Janna Dixon.
“We don’t have one or two people that can do it all for us,” Evans said. “I think it’s going to be a balanced attack, wherever it comes from. We’ve got several people who can score for us. I have a feeling it’s going to be different people each night. We’ll just have to see how that plays out.”
There is no doubt the War Eagles will rely heavily on the seniors ó Brown, Turner and Evans.
“Kellie’s got experience,” Evans said. “She’s been working inside. She’s gotten pretty strong. She can handle the ball on the wing, and she’s one of our better rebounders.
“Sarah’s a strong rebounder. She tends to find the basket underneath.
“Tonesha’s been doing a pretty good job of penetrating and dishing, which we need. She’s quick and aggressive defensively as well. When she can knock some shots down, that’s more of a bonus.”
Evans does expect the rest of the team to contribute.
“I feel like all 12 of them are capable of helping us one way or another,” Evans said. “We’ve just got to keep working together.”
The younger Dixon, sister of Kaycee, took the fast lane to varsity after scoring a team-high 9.2 points per game at Ellis Middle School.
“We feel like she’s got some things she’s capable of helping us with,” Evans said, “particularly some ball-handling and seeing open people. We’ll see how she can fit in and make that transition.”
There will be some growing pains.
In all likelihood, the CPC will be a fight for second because Mount Tabor will be nasty. The Spartans have two players already committed to Division I programs.
“We don’t have anything to lose,” Evans said. “They’ve got to figure out what they want to reach for. We’re capable of anything.
“It’s a matter of how much we want to commit and how hard we want to work.”