By Ryan Bisesi
rbisesi@salisburypost.com
MOCKSVILLE — The Central Piedmont Conference gave Davie County quite the rude awakening Tuesday night.
The War Eagles took a blow in their conference opener in a 49-24 loss to CPC rival West Forsyth at home. The Titans scored the first points of the game and never trailed, holding a double-digit advantage for much of the contest.
After Davie’s Laura Shelton nailed a trey front the wing to make it 29-19 right after halftime, West held Davie (5-9, 0-1 CPC) scoreless for the next 13:07.
“Maybe I overestimated how good we are and underestimated how good they are,” Davie coach Denny Key said. “When they went to the zone, it basically made it impossible for us to score.”
West (8-3, 1-0 CPC) had a duo of 12-point nights from Tatum Jarvis and Tori Cook, who led all scorers. Shelton was the only player in double figures for the War Eagles with 10.
“We usually have four girls that can score pretty high,” West coach Laquanda Quick said. “I’m happy because we’re 1-0 in conference, but we still have a lot to work on.”
Shelton hit a layup in transition with 4:30 left in the first quarter to cut Davie’s deficit to 10-6. West then went on a 15-1 tear, finally broken by the first of Shelton’s treys.
“It was just one of those nights where the other team’s better than us,” Key said. “We’ve had some rough spots, but we’ve played better than us.”
The Titans led 29-14 at halftime. Shelton hit a shot inside the arc 30 seconds into the half and nailed her second trey on the following Davie possession to pull her team within 10. West scored the next 18 points, however, to run away with a win in its first conference clash.
“That’s where they hit us in our weak spot,” Key said. “A team like that with their athletic ability showed us where we are right now.”
WEST FORSYTH (49) — T. Jarvis 12, Cook 12, Ja. Jones 9, Je. Jones 4 Dixon 4, Midleiff 3, Tindall 2, Egbuna 2, C. Jarvis, Rogers
DAVIE (24) — Shelton 10, Hendricks 3, Grubb 3, Peterson 2, Smith 2, Steller 2, Stewart 2, Holland, Swicegood, Gadson, Hartman.
W. Forsyth 13 16 14 6 — 49
Davie 6 8 5 5 — 24