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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

It was the Ethan Driver show in the first half of the Davie varsity boys basketball team’s nonconference game against Alexander Central on Dec. 17.
Driver had the home crowd electrified with 18 first-half points. The junior had his varsity career high in the bag after 16 minutes of play. Driver did not score in the second half and settled for the 18.
What a slacker.
All joking aside, the second half was just a formality because Driver’s 8-for-9 shooting helped Davie build an insurmountable 44-14 halftime lead. Coach Josh Pittman emptied the bench in the second half as Davie won 70-37.
“We are shooting Monday and Thursday mornings,” Pittman said. “We are working and that is what is showing on the court.”
Davie had a sensational 28-for-49 shooting performance, the 57 percent including a 12-of-22 showing from the 3-point line. In the first quarter, four triples between the Jackson Powers/Driver tandem got Davie off and running. Driver stole an inbounds pass, laid it in and drew a foul. Cam Owens penetrated and made a beautiful pass to Elliott Erlandsson as Davie closed the first with a 25-8 bulge.
In the second quarter, Central watched Powers, Landon King, Erlandsson and Bryson Mickey bury treys. Driver knocked away a pass and outhustled the Cougar to the ball at the other end of the court. His hustle was rewarded with a layup. Asher Tolbert heaved a long pass to help Driver get an easy two. Mickey did the same thing moments later. Driver cut down the lane and King found him for two. Driver fired a 50-foot pass to Asher for a fast-break layup.
In the first half, Driver converted six baskets in the lane to go with one triple. Five different guys knocked down seven 3s for Davie.
Driver, who came in averaging 4.8 points, surpassed the 16 he had in a game last year and also came up with four steals.
“The confidence has gotten better,” Pittman said. “That’s coming in and getting shots up in the morning, being locked in and being positive. We say attitude, energy and effort. Those are the non negotiables, and when you do that, good things happen as you saw tonight (from Driver). He finally got his basketball legs back under him and he looked like he was having fun.”
Some of the most fun moments came from Powers’ long-range success. He went 5 of 7 from downtown, scored 15, pulled down 10 rebounds, handed out four assists and rejected three shots.
Isaac Swisher had seven points. King had seven points and three assists. Mickey had five points, seven assists, zero turnovers, five rebounds and four steals as Davie (7-1) recorded its largest win since 83-36 over East Davidson in December of 2023.
“Bryson did what Bryson does,” Pittman said. “Landon and Cam played solid. Adam Brown and Ben Reid got some good minutes. What I loved about the game the most – when I subbed in the last four minutes of the game, we still played good basketball. That’s a sign of a team that is getting better.”
Notes: This was a completely different game from the first meeting on Nov. 22, when the War Eagles fell behind 14-2 and trailed by one entering the fourth quarter. They finally pulled ahead and won 53-47. … Central shot 35 percent and fell to 3-5. … Pittman likes where his team is headed – it has a four-game winning streak – but he’s not about to relax. “I’m a perfectionist and we have a lot more to do,” he said. “We tighten up the screws and you know me, I will find something else to complain about. I want us to play better defense and I want us to have acknowledgment of the better players on the other team. In the first half, they had 14 points and No. 3 (Jayon Connor) had 13 of them. Our defensive IQ has to be better. Our effort is there; now we’ve just got to put the smarts with it.”

Davie 70, Alexander Central 37 – Ethan Driver 18, Jackson Powers 15, Isaac Swisher 7, Landon King 7, Elliott Erlandsson 5, Asher Tolbert 5, Ben Reid 5, Bryson Mickey 5, Adam Brown 3.