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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

Ty Cozart of the South Davie boys basketball team and Nolan Allen of North Davie were electric to watch in the first week of the middle school season.
The Tigers held a 21-17 halftime lead against visiting Corriher-Lipe in the opener on Oct. 22. In the third quarter, the game turned into The Cozart Show.
The eighth grader went bananas in the third, scoring 16 of South’s 20 points with four 3-pointers to open up a 41-27 lead. South went on to win 50-35.
Last year Cozart scored a total of 19 points in a reserve role for the Tigers, who went 16-1 behind the trio of Draeton Nance (22.1 ppg), Noah Dulin (18.4) and William Martin (10.5). Those three are freshmen now, and Cozart tapped into his potential and finished with 24 points and six 3s.
“One fell in the third quarter and they just kept falling,” coach Germain Mayfield said. “They were transition pull-up 3s. He just caught fire. He’s always been talented, he just hasn’t played with confidence. He found it today. It was tight and we did not pull away until he got hot in the third.”
South got six points from Jared Vaughters, five from Anderson Branham, Wyatt Tucker and Malachi Miller, three from Kayden Young and two from James Martin.
It was an especially good win since South was missing Dreighton Lunnerman and Colson Dulin.
“We played without two starters,” Mayfield said. “We were probably missing 20 points.”
The roster includes Crosby Parker, Bentley Caudle, Bentley Perez, William Sandoval and Emanuel Cheek.
South 44, China Grove 12
South didn’t have to break a sweat at China Grove, leading 25-5 at halftime and winning for the 31st time in 35 tries across three seasons.
Cozart banged three more 3s and led South with 11 points. Branham and Vaughters had seven each, while Parker and Lunnerman had six apiece. Martin had three. Dulin and Perez had two.
Erwin 51, North 43
Erwin and visiting North were tied at 31 at the end of the third, but the Wildcats’ opener ended in heartbreak in the coaching debut for Caleb Davis. (Trevor Gooch was the coach the past seven years.)
Allen’s superb effort (25 points) was not enough as North got outscored 20-12 in the fourth. Allen, who averaged 6.7 last year, is the top returning scorer.
“Nolan is a long wing player with a great outside shot and the ability to drive and create for himself,” Davis said. “He’s an 8th-grade returning starter whose experience at this level has been a great asset for the team. He’s also aggressive on defense and had a lot of deflected passes that led to fast breaks for us. He’s still working on his ability to handle point-guard responsibilities on a more regular basis. Once that locks in, he has huge potential.”
Levi Morales had nine, Glen Greene five, Tannyr Carrier three and Wade Ridenhour one.
“The entire starting five (Allen, Carrier, Ridenhour, Morales and Greene) played great halfcourt defense and gobbled up just about every rebound,” Davis said.
The roster includes Lelan Small, Mason Brookshire, Jeremiah Hernandez, Silas Whittaker, Peyton Jordan. Jodee Rosales, Hudson Pfaff and Charlie Oliver.
“They are a great group of kids and I’m excited for the rest of the season,” Davis said.
North 61, Southeast 43
Allen delivered heroics in North’s road win on Oct. 24. His 32-point performance marked the most by a Wildcat in 96 games. Holy smokes.
“And he only played about 90 seconds in the fourth (quarter),” Davis said. “We thought about letting him go for 40, but we put the second group in when got to a 30-point lead and they were able to get some good minutes in and keep the lead at 20.”
Ridenhour made an impression with 14 points. Carrier had nine, Hernandez four and Morales two as North halted a seven-game losing streak dating to last year.
“Wade has an endless motor and is very aggressive on the defensive end,” Davis said. “He had a lot of open looks in our first game that just didn’t go in. Tonight he really worked well within the flow of the offense and found himself open and converted when the ball came his way. He did particularly well slicing up their zone defense by working the elbows and hitting his midrange opportunities.”
Allen’s points were the most by a North player since James Wilkins had 37 against Quality Education Academy in January of 2017.
Ellis 53, C-Lipe 24
Jordan Crowley provided a spark and Ellis absolutely destroyed Corriher-Lipe on the road on Oct. 24.
Crowley had 10 of his team-high 14 points in the first quarter. Mason Driver (10 points, five steals, three assists), Bowman Blakley (six points, seven rebounds), Henry Migliarese (six points) and Graham Weaver (five points, seven rebounds) contributed to the obliteration of the Yellow Jackets.
“We looked real good,” said Roger Blalock, who moved over from the Ellis JV girls and replaced Alexis Hopper as coach. “Even our big guy, Henry, knocked down a 3. Mason and Jordan forced a lot of turnovers. Bowman had a bunch of steals, too.”
And then: “The main scorers are going to be Mason, Jordan and Bowman. Bowman got in foul trouble early in the game and had to sit most of the second quarter.”
Ben Bost’s work off the bench did not go unnoticed. He scored two and racked up six assists. Peyton Fishel had four points, while Cam James, Ryan Richardson and Bentley Carter had two each. The roster includes Wade Hefner, Blake Allen and Joseph Burchette.
“Ben came in off the bench and did pretty good,” Blalock said.