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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

A look back at Davie sports 50 years ago …

The 1973-74 Davie girls basketball team tied for first place in the regular season, but it couldn’t get out of the first round of the conference tournament because No. 1 scorer Nancy Reavis’ absence was too much to overcome.

Reavis suffered a bruised knee in the final regular-season game and was sorely missed in a 55-54 loss to North Davidson. After Davie was down 48-42, Deborah Ward’s five-foot shot tied the game at 49. Pam Reavis hit a layup with 15 seconds left to pull Davie within 55-54, and North was called for traveling at :12. But Kathy Hutchens missed a 25-footer at :05 and the Black Knights were swamped by their fans. Debbie Burton (19 points, 8 rebounds) had a huge game in defeat. P. Reavis had 12 points.

The Davie boys basketball team hammered South Rowan 67-50 in the final game of the regular season, but the matchup with South in the first round of the conference tournament was a different story. The War Eagles dug a 31-17 halftime hole, got outrebounded 41-13 for the game and lost 63-57 despite a brilliant performance by Doug Quarles, who scored a career-high 26 points on 13-of-16 shooting. He also had eight rebounds. Dwayne Grant had six points and 12 boards.

Tom Anderson, a star end for Davie football in 1973 who was named to the Prep All-American Football team, signed a grant-in-aid with Catawba.

Tanglewood Golf Club was ready for the biggest names in the golf world as it prepared to host the 56th PGA Championship from Aug. 5-11. With tickets priced at $10, fans would get to see players like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lanny Wadkins and Johnny Miller.

Eric Lawhon shot a scorching 2-under 69 as Davie golf hosted a meet at Twin Cedars. Davie’s other five scores: Billy Clark 71, Ron Blackwelder 73, Mark James 76, David Dwiggins 78, Craig McCoy 79.

The Davie boys tennis team defeated Mooresville 6-3 behind singles wins from Ricky Maxey, Jim Wall, Ken Jordan and Dickie Vogler. Sweeping doubles were Tommy Eanes/Ron Overcash, Hal Monsees/Blaine Burton and Scott Haire/Bobby McGhee. When Davie beat South Stokes 6-3, the singles victories belonged to Maxey, John Nicholson, Jordan and Wall. Winning in doubles were Brad Middleton/Nicholson and Haire/McGhee.

Grant’s freshman basketball season was just ridiculous. The 6-foot-4 phenom was named to the All-Northwest team after averaging 15.6 points, 12 rebounds and hitting 61 percent from the floor. The article said: “At the precocious age of 14, Grant is already drawing attention and comparison – warranted or not – to N.C. State’s David Thompson and Rocky Mount’s Phil Ford. No other freshman came close to making All-Northwest.”

Andy Rutledge pitched a six-hit shutout and Jeff Barker went 3 for 4 as Davie’s baseball team routed South Iredell 8-0 on the road. Barker belted two doubles. Jeff Ward and Rick Dyson had two hits each.

With a best-ball score of 138 over 36 holes, Kenny Jordan and Tommy Fleming were the first flight winners in the member-guest tournament at Twin Cedars. Bruce Tuttle and Kent Adams of Boone finished second. The second flight winners were Don Cornatzer/Jack Nichols, who tied Bobby Knight/Jerry Shore at 151. In the sudden death playoff, Cornatzer birdied the first hole to decide first place.

In a Davie golf match at Foxwood, Lawhon and McCoy fired 76s. James and Dwiggins shot 79 and 82, respectively.

Larry Jones had a day to remember when Davie baseball beat East Rowan 4-2. Not only did Jones break a 2-2 tie with a sixth-inning homer, he hurled six innings. After Jones’ solo shot, Dyson singled home Kim Seaford for an insurance run. Jones, who improved his record to 3-0, was relieved by Larry Carter, who earned the save. Davie trailed 2-1 before rallying in the fifth. J. Ward drew a two-out walk and scored on a double by Barker.

Eanes, a 5-11, 175-pound quarterback who helped the ‘73 War Eagles to a memorable 8-2-1 season, signed a grant-in-aid with Elon College. Elon head coach Red Wilson said: “He is a fine quarterback who is an outstanding passer and a student of the game. With his great leadership ability, we feel he will develop into an outstanding college signal caller.”

The Davie boys track team captured the North Piedmont Conference title without breaking a sweat, piling up 174.5 points to runner-up East Rowan’s 126.5. Davie broke two NPC records. The mile relay team of Mark McIntyre, Russ Spry, Quarles and Anderson turned in a record-setting 3:28.7, and Barry McBride broke the record in the two-mile race at 10:09. Quarles, who paced Davie with 30.5 points, won the 180 low hurdles, and Billy Etchinson, who was second with 30 points, won the broad jump. Tim Austin was first in the mile.

Randy McDaniel was named all-conference after leading the Mitchell College baseball team to a banner season.

The Davie Truckers softball team won the county tournament at Cooleemee. Its victims were Fork Discount, Ken’s Pool Room, Farmington Sports and Ken’s in the championship game. Ricky Allred of the Truckers and Steve Ledford of Ken’s tied for the home run trophy with two bombs each. Ledford was given the award due to having more hits than Allred.

Davie’s powerhouse track team just kept rolling along in the North-South Piedmont bi-conference meet, scoring 134 points to claim the 17-team event. Salisbury was second at 107.5. McBride (10:04.1 in two miles) and the mile relay team of McIntyre, Spry, Quarles and Anderson (3:25.5) set meet records. Quarles (triple jump, 120 high hurdles) was a double winner. Austin (mile) and Etchinson (broad jump) had one win each.

Paul Ijames, who doubled as a pitcher and DH for Catawba, had a remarkable sophomore season while hitting a team-best .353.

Davie track capped a legendary season by winning the Western North Carolina High School Activities Association title. The War Eagles scored 78 points to Salisbury’s 67 as Etchinson broad jumped a meet record 23-7. The other Davie winners were Robert Pulliam (low hurdles) and Austin (mile).

Craig Seaford and J. Ward were named all-conference in baseball.

With Dale Ijames hitting an absurd .923 across five games, the Davie Truckers averaged 18.2 runs per game and breezed to first place in the Steve Johnson Benefit Softball Tournament. In the winners’ bracket final, the Truckers blasted Cooleemee Supermarket 25-5. In the championship game, the Truckers exploded for 14 runs in the first inning and handled Bringle’s 17-7. The Truckers hit .546 as a team, including a .783 average by Terry Johnson and a .696 mark by Allred.