By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

MOUNT ULLA — Davie’s Cory Heiner was having a negative offensive night, but he turned his outing into a positive with a huge blocked shot that keyed Wednesday night’s 78-72 victory at West Rowan.
Heiner plays like his hair is on fire, and his all-out effort was the reason he was on the floor when West, down 72-70, worked the ball around, looking for the tying bucket as the scoreboard clock in Mount Ulla ticked under a minute to play.
West’s muscular guard Martavio Rankin, a football running back, saw an opening and headed down the lane and toward the rim, but he got cut off. Rankin faked, and then went up. Heiner blocked his shot.
West couldn’t get back on defense, Davie changed ends of the floor in a heartbeat, and L.P. Mua rammed down a dunk for a four-point lead with 45 seconds remaining.
“That all happened pretty fast,” said Davie point guard Nic Starnes. “Just super-proud of my teammates for finishing this game off. It was the first time for some of them in a high-pressure finish, and they handled it really well.”
Austin Love made two free throws for the Falcons’ final points with 34 seconds left, but Cooper Wall dished to Heiner for a layup to restore a four-point lead. Jordan McDaniel sealed Davie’s road win with two free throws.
The first half was racehorse basketball with Davie (5-1) doing most of the racing. Starnes was pushing the ball, and shooter Heath Slabach, who had 15 of his 17 points before halftime, was making everything. Davie led, 45-35, at the break.
“We were moving the ball down the floor quickly and getting easy buckets,” Davie coach Mike Absher said “That’s when we’re at our best. We’re averaging 77 points per game.”
West needed three first-half 3-pointers from freshman Payne Stolsworth just to limp to the locker room with a 45-35 deficit.
“Starnes really pushed it at us,” West coach Mike Gurley said. “And no excuses, but there was some lingering effect from our (last-second) loss to Carson on Tuesday. We didn’t come ready to play. But at halftime, we talked about defense and we regrouped.”
West’s intensity level was much greater in the second half. Paris Hillie is a very quick defender, and the Falcons were able to use him to keep the ball out of Starnes’ hands or to shut down a shooter.
The action grew a little hotter when both teams were assessed intentional fouls in a short span.
West kept fighting uphill. When Stolsworth made his fourth 3-pointer late in the third quarter, the Falcons had climbed back to a 53-all tie.
“It’s a different kind of West team,” Absher said. “What impressed me was how physical they are. They’re pretty big and they finished some tough shots inside after they got contact.”
Doing the damage inside for the Falcons were sophomore Caleb Mauldin (19 points) and junior Love (13 points).
Davie heated up again early in the fourth quarter and pushed out to a 65-56 lead with 6:41 remaining when Starnes nailed a 3-pointer.
West battled back again, with Mauldin and Love working hard on the glass and getting to the foul line often. Starnes’ clutch bank shot with two minutes left put the War Eagles on top, 71-68.
Hillie drove hard for two West points, and Heiner made a free throw with 1:12 left to give Davie a 72-70 lead and to set up the critical bucket fueled by his block.
“Cory also came up with several key defensive rebounds,” Absher said. “For this early in the season, I thought this was a great game.”
Slabach (17), Mua (16), Starnes (13) and Wall (11) were in double figures for the War Eagles.
Mauldin (19), Hillie (13), Love (13) and Stolsworth (12) led the Falcons (1-3).
“We just have to get better and we have to be blind to what our record is and not worry about it,” Gurley said. “We can be a pretty good basketball team. We’re playing hard enough to win, but we’re just not executing well enough.”

Davie 78, West Rowan 72

DAVIE (78)
Slabach 17, Mua 16, Starnes 13, Wall 11, Walton 8, Heiner 5, McDaniel 4, Gonella 2, Shoffner 2, Hampton.
WEST ROWAN (72)
Mauldin 19, Hillie 13, Love 13, Stolsworth 12, Delagado 5, Powers 4, Day 2, Wilson 2, Rankin 2, Warren.

Davie 25 20 13 20 — 78
W Rowan 19 16 20 17 — 72