By Brian Pitts
Davie Enterprise Record

The Davie boys basketball team had difficulty finding the passion for a game against another overmatched opponent. But it shook off a sluggish start and posted a predictable 73-39 win over visiting Forbush in the final game before Christmas break.
The War Eagles improved to 9-1 with their seventh straight win. The margins during the streak have been rather large – 11, 19, 21, 46, 28, 62 and 34.
The way Davie started against Forbush irked coach Mike Absher. The score was 20-14 in Davie’s favor, but home fans were expecting a knockout in the first two minutes.
“Our intensity on defense wasn’t there,” Absher said.
The inevitable run came in the second quarter. The War Eagles outscored Forbush 26-6 while hitting 11 of 14 field goals. Shannon Dillard dunked while getting fouled, and Caleb Martin finished the first half with 18 points and five assists. Caleb was shooting into the ocean from the end of the pier, hitting seven of eight shots.
Davie stepped on Forbush’s neck in the third, building the lead to 64-27. The highlight: Davis Absher had the ball at the top of the key and threw an alley-oop to Dillard, who flushed it home as shorter Falcons looked up in awe.
“I told them this is one of those nights where we’re going to have to pull for each other and generate some excitement amongst ourselves,” coach Absher said. “And we did that (in the second and third quarters). It started on defense. We contested shots better. We rebounded better, which led to some easy baskets.”
The War Eagles shot a red-hot 56 percent (30 of 53) for the game and hardly needed the services of top-scorer Nate Jones, who served the first game of a suspension. It was the second game the 25.8 scorer has missed this season due to disciplinary reasons.
Dillard had 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
“He’s not putting the ball on the floor nearly as much, and he’s also turning back to the middle some instead of baseline every time,” Absher said.
Caleb also had 21 to go with six assists. It was his best scoring night in five games.
“That was awesome,” Absher said. “We had to move some people around (with Jones out), and Caleb stepped up to the plate and answered.”
Cody Martin collected nine points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
The War Eagles, bored with the string of mismatches, are ready for a louder crowd and brighter stage. And they will get just that this week in the Sam Moir Christmas Classic …