Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The South Davie boys basketball team avenged a loss from two weeks earlier when the Tigers won a defensive battle at North Davie, 25-21, on Feb. 17.
The Wildcats took the first meeting 45-31, a win that was spearheaded by Jacob Self’s 24 points, but South erased a 9-4 first-quarter deficit by scoring eight of the 10 points in the second. Three-pointers by Braylen Simms and Jordan Nance lifted South to a 12-11 halftime lead, and it maintained a 16-14 advantage at the end of the third.
Nance (seven), Simms (five) and Preston Wilson (five) paced the Tigers (5-7) in their final game. North, which got six points from Self and four from Justin Green, hasn’t won since the Feb. 3 game at South, but coach Caleb Davis couldn’t fault the effort.
“We had a slugfest,” Davis said. “The game was somewhere between a basketball game, football game and a WWE wrestling match, but both teams gave it their all. There were literally blood, sweat and tears in the North Davie locker room after the game. But this kind of battle builds character for our young guys moving forward.”
Selma Burke 49, North 37
This was another game in which the outcome was reversed from the first meeting. After beating the Bears 38-19 in late January, the Wildcats fell at home in their final game on Feb. 18.
It looked like North might end its losing streak when Green scored six in the first quarter to stake his team to a 7-2 lead. But the Bears had other ideas. They ripped off a 23-8 run in the second, led by 10 at halftime and never lost control.
“Selma exploded in the second quarter, but I’m very proud of how the roster from top to bottom stayed active and invested all the way to the final buzzer,” Davis said.
Self led North (4-8) with 11 points, followed by Green with eight and Luke McCraw with six. Although North closed with a four-game losing streak, Davis used the final game to sub liberally and let everyone get some action.
“With no playoff implications, the final score was irrelevant to us and our only goal was to make sure everyone got playing time and court experience before the season ends,” he said. “These JV boys are the future of our teams at North and I wanted them to know that I believe in their abilities as players and young men, regardless of their current level of development on the court.”
Mooresville 54, Ellis 35
Ellis retreated in the fourth quarter and dropped its regular-season finale at home on Feb. 18.
Despite the final margin, this was a close game for three quarters. In fact, the Jaguars led 14-6 after the first behind three 3-pointers from Hunter Hough and five points from Graham Wood.
The Red Imps went crazy in the second quarter to grab a 21-16 halftime lead, but Ellis stayed close in the third as Will Hileman and Wood scored six each.
When the fourth began, Ellis was within 33-29. But at game’s end, after a 21-point fourth by the visitors, the Red Imps were 6-0 against Davie County teams this season.
Wood put up 15, giving him 45 points in three games. Hough and Hileman had nine and eight, respectively. The Jaguars qualified for the conference tournament with a 6-6 record.
Notes: Karmen Wilson poured in 13 points and Kate Mason added 11 as North Davie’s girls defeated South Davie 28-16. Khia Bohannon and Harper Welch had two each for North. South finished 1-11. … In the final regular-season game, the Wildcats extended their winning streak to five, winning 24-18 over Selma Burke. They entered the tournament at 8-4. … The Ellis girls dropped their final game to Mooresville. The Jaguars closed at 4-8.
South Davie 25 – Jordan Nance 7, Braylen Simms 5, Preston Wilson 5, Khari McClelland 4, Zion Robinson 3, Kylan Dulin 1.
North Davie 21 – Jacob Self 6, Justin Green 4, Luke McCraw 3, Cass Davis 3, Landon McCann 3, Jackson Powell 2.

Selma Burke 49, North Davie 37 – Self 11, Green 8, Luke McCraw 6, Landon McCann 5, Evan Hempstead 4, Jackson Powell 3.
Mooresville 54, Ellis 35 – Graham Wood 15, Hunter Hough 9, Will Hileman 8, Jud Harbour 2, Brody Daggett 1.