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After squeaking out three wins by a total of eight points, the Ellis boys basketball team had little trouble with visiting North Davie, winning 52-37 on Feb. 5.

“We finally had a game where we did not have to sweat in the last two minutes,” coach Mike Dinkins said.

The Jaguars built a 25-13 halftime lead and extended the margin to 40-24 in the third behind a season-high 16 points from Jordan Crowley.

“I got onto him about not finishing, and in the second half he scored 10 points,” Dinkins said. “I said: ‘Take it all the way to the rim. They are going to end up fouling you.’”

The other Ellis scorers: Peyton Fishel 8, Cam James 8, Graham Wood 5, Bentley Carter 5, Ryan Richardson 5, Hunter Hough 3, Chance McLean 2.

The scorers for North: Tannyr Carrier 10, Wade Ridenhour 9, Levi Morales 7, Nathan Smith 5, Peyton Jordan 4, Sawyer Hall 2.

Ellis 45, WR 23

The Jaguars (7-1) continued humming along against visiting West Rowan on Feb. 7. They burst to a 16-2 lead in the first quarter and rolled to their sixth straight win.

“That’s not bad for a bunch of little sixth graders,” Dinkins said. “It’s beyond my expectations from when we first started.”

Crowley (12) hit double figures for the third game in a row. James (12) delivered double figures for the fourth time. Fishel had 6, McLean 5, Wood 4, Hough 2, Carter 2 and Richardson 2.

Despite the 7-1 record, Dinkins is not going to let his boys relax.

“I’ve been extremely hard on this group, and I have to keep reminding myself that they are sixth and seventh graders and they are prone to go braindead on me,” he said.

Burke 43, ND 22

North Davie was no match for Selma Burke on the road on Feb. 7. A 26-13 halftime deficit grew to 41-15 in the third.

Smith had nine points and 12 rebounds. Morales had seven points and five assists. Ridenhour, Carrier and Jordan had two points each.

“Nathan and Levi played well in the post,” coach Trevor Gooch said.

ND 44, WR 38

At halftime against visiting West Rowan on Feb. 8, the outlook was bleak for the Wildcats. Not only were they in the midst of a four-game tailspin, they were down 22-16.

But North (4-6) flipped a switch in the third quarter, scored 13 of the 15 points in those six minutes and pulled out the victory.

“That’s a big win for us,” Gooch said. “We dug a hole early in the first quarter. We chipped away to get back into the game. We had a great third quarter. In the fourth quarter, we hung on.”

Ridenhour (12 points) put up a season high while registering double figures for the fourth time. It was the sixth double-figure outing for Carrier (10). Jordan had a season-high 10. Smith supplied seven points and a whopping 15 rebounds, giving him 27 boards across two games. Morales had five points.

“Tannyr hit some big free throws down the stretch to seal the win,” Gooch said. “Wade had a solid game. Peyton had an awesome game in the post. Nathan was a beast in the post.”

South Davie (4-6) lost to West Rowan and Mooresville last week.