For tangible evidence of the Davie girls basketball team’s improvement, look at the last two games. Both were losses, but both had elements that should be applauded.

When Davie met East Rowan on Dec. 14, the Mustangs dominated the fourth quarter and won going away, 43-28. They met again in the fifth-place game of the Sam Moir Christmas Classic on Dec. 29. East was 10-2. But Davie hung around for three quarters and nearly stole it at the end, losing 31-30.

The Mustangs hit their last field goal at 3:50, went scoreless the final three minutes and committed four turnovers in the last minute.

Meanwhile, Davie went on a 9-4 run. Lexie May drained a baseline jumper at :15 to cut the deficit to 31-30. Davie had two chances to win it, including a jumper before the final horn.

Morgan Lewis had 11 points, May 10, Emma Slabach five and Maddie Tellup four.

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When Davie visited North Davidson on Nov. 28, the War Eagles got upended and outright knocked out, 66-37. In the rematch at Davie on Jan. 2, Davie put up a good fight in 44-33 defeat. And get this: Davie’s top scorer, Slabach, did not play due to the flu.

After falling behind 17-10 in the first quarter, Davie closed the halftime deficit to 26-23. It was 33-29 North after the third.

“We played really, really well for the first three quarters or so,” coach Kevin Revels said. “We played seven kids and they responded well.”

M. Lewis was electric in the first half. With Davie down by three at intermission, the senior had 12 of its 23 points with three 3-pointers. She finished with 13, her highest total in 10 games. She is second with a nine-point average.

“Morgan was incredible in the first half, and then they played a box-and-one on her the entire second half,” Revels said. “She did a good job of staying calm and composed. Because of their commitment to her, we were able to run our offense pretty efficiently because she was able to keep defenders out of the paint. She did a good job of helping us offensively even without being able to score (much).”

North improved to 7-3 with its third win in a row. Davie fell to 4-8. But Davie outscored North 11-4 in the fourth despite a huge asset being unable to play. Slabach leads the team with a 12.5 average, including games with 24, 19 and 21 points.

“If Emma had been there, even if we hadn’t won the game, I think we would have been in a situation to win it at the end,” he said. “They wouldn’t have been able to defend Morgan like that, and that would have been a big difference.”

May had six points and three assists. Olivia Tatum had five points and six assists. Klara Lewis had five points and six rebounds. Tellup had four points and eight boards.

“I think the light bulb went off tonight with what we’re trying to do offensively, so that was a big plus,” he said.