SALISBURY — Maybe it was Davie County’s big and talented front line; maybe it was three games in three days, or maybe they just ran out of gas.
The Salisbury girls were very competitive in the first half then suddenly they weren’t. The result was a deflating 59-36 loss to Davie in the third place game of the Sam Moir tournament Saturday afternoon.
“I am just so disappointed,” a clearly distraught Hornet Coach Lakai Brice stated afterwards. “We didn’t play Salisbury basketball. There was just no effort, a lack of focus.”
Even with a great effort, the Hornets would have had problems containing Davie’s front line, especially athletic forward Aubrianna Peebles. The 6-0 sophomore posted 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead the win.
“She is just such a great athlete”, War Eagle Coach Dave Ruemenapp said. “And it showed today.”
It also earned Peebles a spot on the All-Tournament girls team which is rare for a player from a third place finisher.
“I just tried to do what I could today,” Peebles stated. “I think having the team pick each other up today helped a lot. Everybody did their part.”
Davie (5-6) came in as a six seed but leaves with wins over South and Salisbury sandwiched around a 20 point loss to tourney winner North Rowan.
In addition to Peebles, forward Asiah Peterson had 11 points and 8 boards while center Ashlyn Hampton scored 10.
The three sparked Davie to a quick 15-4 lead with Peebles scoring seven. But the Hornets rebounded in the second quarter behind Monifa Angle and Nyasia Harris to cut the deficit to three on two occasions.
The last time was at 25-22. War Eagle Madison Zaferatos then nailed back to back threes and Davie led 31-25 at the half.
As far as the Hornets were concerned, that was the highlight of the game. The final two quarters turned into a nightmare as they shot just 15 per cent and managed only 11 points in the half. They went almost six minutes without a point.
“It is just so frustrating when you love the game of basketball like I do,” Brice said. “But we will be alright. We will bounce back.”
While Salisbury was wilting, Davie was on a roll as Pebbles scored twice and Peterson added a three point play to key a 15-4 run. The margin expanded to 20 at 51-31 midway through the fourth period and grew from there.
After Friday’s tough loss to North Rowan the Davie coach talked to his team about regaining their confidence.
“I told them that confidence only comes from success,” Ruemenapp said. “And success only comes from hard work. We are coming out of here with two wins and that is great.”
Salisbury (5-7) was led by Harris with 8 while Juliana Anderson and Tyzarea Alexander had 7 each. Breya Philpot grabbed 11 boards.
DAVIE (59) — A. Peebles 23, Peterson 11, Hampton 10, Zaferatos 6, Bentley 4, Gadson 3, C. Peebles 2, Bohannon, Jones, Martinez.
SALISURY (36) — Harris 8, Anderson 7, Alexander 7, Angle 5, Philpot 5, Charles 4, , Wolfe, Phifer, Neely, Robinson.
Davie Co. 19 12 15 13 — 59
Salisbury 11 14 4 7 — 36