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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

A look back at Davie sports 40 years ago …

Seemingly nobody on earth could stay with the 1983-84 Davie girls basketball team when the sensational Angie Browder/Naomi Minwalla backcourt was clicking, and they were both dazzling in a 55-42 win over Salisbury in the championship game of the Catawba Christmas Tournament.

Browder, who was voted the tourney’s most valuable player, and Minwalla had 18 points apiece in the final. Kim Ward (6 points, 9 rebounds), Selena Fowler and Tammy Pulliam played complimentary roles.

“We give the seniors a lot of credit, but you really have to say something about all five starters,” coach Bill Peeler said. “Fowler and Pulliam have really improved since the first of the season, and it has helped.”

In the consolations of the Christmas tournament, 6-2 senior forward Russell Anderson was heroic in a 60-59 win over Salisbury. He scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, shot 7 of 10 for the game and hit a tiebreaking free throw with 11 seconds to play. The War Eagles tried to give it away, blowing a 59-49 lead with less than two minutes to go. Chris Jacobs was perfect from the floor (6 for 6) on his way to 12 points. James Hollis had 10. Earlier in the tournament, Davie lost 77-72 in double overtime to South Rowan in a bruising affair that saw 65 fouls, 85 free throws and four Davie players foul out. South went 31 of 52 from the foul line, while Davie went 18 of 33.

Jacobs was selected to play in the East-West All-Star Football Game. He was also named to “Who’s Who” for high school football.

Davie wrestling needed Darren Peebles’ heroics in a fierce 28-27 battle with Asheboro. Peebles’ first-period pin at heavyweight erased a 27-22 deficit. Davie got a pin from Michael Driver (158 weight class) and decisions from Tony Foster (129), Dale Barneycastle (148) and Greg Dull (198).

The Davie girls destroyed South Iredell, 63-39, behind Browder (18 points), Minwalla (14) and Ward (10).

It was shaping up to be a hard-luck season for the Davie boys, who lost 84-77 in overtime to South Iredell after they overrode a 53-47 deficit in the fourth. Davie tied the game with six seconds left in regulation. Junior guard Ronald Foster’s 23 points were not quite enough. Anderson and Jacobs had 15 and 14, respectively.

North Davie wrestling took down Corriher-Lipe while getting pins from Neil Jones, Mel Perez, Poppy Gregg, Todd Morgan, Steve Dunn, Chris Dickens and Chris Evans.

The Davie girls had their hands full with Asheboro. Thank heaven for Fowler’s big night. She carried the War Eagles with 18 points, while Browder knocked in 13.

Jacobs scored 20 at North Davidson. Unfortunately, it became a footnote in 68-60 defeat. Anderson had 11 and Uly Grisette 10. The War Eagles, though, got off the deck with a 70-67 win over Thomasville. Anderson (15), Donald Blackwell (14), Foster (14) and Jacobs (12) took turns making buckets.

A 38-20 win over Lexington closed the Davie wrestling team’s regular-season record at 8-3. The pinners were Steve Buchin, Foster, Vernon Hendrix, Kerwyn Wilson and Peebles. Earlier in a 43-18 win over Salisbury, Buchin, Foster, Barneycastle and Wilson had the pins.

The Davie boys snatched defeat from the claws of victory, squandering a 16-point lead in the second half and losing 58-55 to Salisbury, which rode 6-5 center Kevin Bostic’s 25 points. The snakebit boys lost 51-49 to West Rowan, the Falcons’ winning points coming on a tip-in with one second left. Before that, Grisette gave Davie a chance for overtime. He drove, was fouled and hit both free throws to tie the game at 49. Anderson (12), Jacobs (11) and Foster (10) led the scoring.

With Barneycastle finishing first in his weight class, Davie wrestling captured the sectional tournament at Salisbury, which hosted 26 teams. Buchin, Foster and Peebles finished second and Driver was fourth as the top four at each weight qualified for regionals.

Sophomore Jeffrey Lankford was the lone returning starter for the 1984 N.C. State men’s golf team. Coming off a freshman year in which he averaged 74.1 strokes, he tied for first in the Tar Heel Invitational.

Three defensive players from Davie’s 1983 football team signed to play in college. Jacobs (6-5, 235, 4.9 in the 40) inked a scholarship with North Carolina, while Devore Holman (5-7, 260, 5.3 in the 40) and Peebles (6-5, 260) inked with Winston-Salem State.

A game against Trinity was a 69-35 thrashing for the Davie girls. Browder was dominant with 25 points. Fowler (15) wasn’t too shabby. Minwalla had 11 despite suffering from a bout with the flu.

Anderson went for 21 as the Davie boys climbed past Trinity 77-66. Jacobs (13) and Foster (10) contributed double figures.

South Davie wrestler Jimmy Slye solved every riddle, going 16-0 for the season as the Tigers finished fifth in the North Piedmont Conference Tournament at Erwin. Tim Call had a stellar season, taking first at Erwin and finishing the year with just one loss.

Davie wrestling finished second in the Midwest Regional at Kannapolis. East Gaston won it with 50.5 points, with Davie next at 46. Buchin (98), Shawn Steele (105) and Foster (126) all went 3-1, while Peebles went 2-2 at heavyweight.