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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

A look back at Davie sports 50 years ago …
Robert Pulliam was so good for Davie’s 1974-75 boys basketball team that he incredibly, impossibly outscored sophomore teammate Dwayne Grant, who is unquestionably the greatest to ever play for the War Eagles.
As a freshman, all Grant did was average 15.6 points, 12 rebounds and shoot 61 percent from the field. During his four-year career, he would produce five 40-point games, 21 30-point games and finish with 2,007 career points, or 463 more than No. 2 man Duane Phillips (1,544 career points from 1997-2000).
But Pulliam and Grant formed a sensational 1-2 punch in 1974-75, with Pulliam averaging 21.3 points per game to rank second in the North Piedmont Conference. Grant tied for third in the NPC at 19.1. And Larry Mock (13.4) wasn’t chopped liver.
As a 6-3 sophomore, Grant put on a casual masterclass in a win over North Stanly, scoring 37 to top his previous career high of 31 set as a freshman.
In a 75-57 rout over North Rowan, Pulliam (career-high 31), Grant (18), Mock (12) and Kim Wilson (10) took turns burning the Cavaliers.
Grant drained a shot with :39 left to give Davie a 66-65 win over East Rowan that knocked the Mustangs out of first place. After Grant delivered, East missed two shots, Mock snatched the rebound and was fouled. Pulliam (28), Grant (21) and Mock (16) were the scoring leaders.
Pulliam poured in a new career high of 35 in an 85-83 barnburner over West Rowan. Mock (20) and Grant (16) did their part in the narrow win.
The 1974-75 Davie girls slipped past West Rowan 45-44 behind Margaret Goodlett (14), Debra Howell (11) and Cathy Hutchens (10). Then Smoot knocked in 20 in a 50-34 win over West Iredell.
Getting 24 points from Pulliam, 19 from Grant and Mock and 11 from Jeff Barker, the Davie boys pummeled West Iredell 83-51.
Coach Steve Roeder’s Davie wrestling squad pulled out a 33-30 win over Salisbury as the War Eagles got pins from Craig Michael at 140 and Stan Thorpe at 169 and a decision from James Neely at 128.
The Davie wrestlers ripped apart North Rowan 49-12. Getting pins were Curtis Stiles (134), C. Michael (140) and Thorpe (169). Taking decisions were Reggy Booe (107), Jim Michael (114), Neely (128) and Reggie Lyons (147).
The Davie boys survived a 58-56 nailbiter against Mooresville. The decisive factors were Mock, who hit a clutch field goal, and Grant, who converted five free throws in the waning seconds.
Connie Howard scored with three seconds left to lift the Davie girls to a 57-56 upset win over Mooresville. The Lady War Eagles displayed brilliant balance: Smoot 16, Goodlett 11, Howard 10, Howell 10, Hutchens 10. They outscored Mooresville 18-6 after trailing 50-40 at the end of the third.
Pulliam and Grant combined for 50 as the Davie boys beat East Rowan 73-67.
The Davie girls blew an 11-point lead in the final three minutes and lost 66-65 to South Rowan, spoiling Smoot’s 21-point effort. Goodlett was next with 15.
The Davie boys lost to South Rowan despite Pulliam’s 29. South’s two big men – Bobby Barnes and Robert Brawley – were too much, the duo combining for 37 points and 33 rebounds.
In the championship game of the Mocksville recreation men’s basketball tournament, Wayne Cassidy (31 points) and Jim Anderson (26) dominated as Gray’s Exxon hammered Mocksville Insurance 80-59. Mickey Morrison (25) and Jake Cornelison (19) put up big numbers in defeat. James Barbershop won the regular-season title at 14-2. Sammy Jackson of Heritage won the trophy for scoring average as he put up 23.8 per game.
Pulliam was selected as an all-star for the North-South Piedmont Conference and played in the ninth-annual Civitan Classic in Marion. He capped his glorious season by getting named to the National High School All-American Team, which featured the top 100 players in the country.
Smoot (12.1 ppg) and Hutchens (11.8) were named all-conference for the Davie girls. Three senior wrestlers made all-NPC. Neely went a sparkling 13-1 at 128. The other two were C. Michael (9-5 at 140) and Lyons (7-3 at 147).
In the first golf match of the season, Davie’s Eric Lawhon shot a 77 at Corbin Hills. He was backed by Mark James (79), Bobby Brownlow (81) and Ronald Webb (81). In the next match at Twin Cedars, James, Lawhon and Webb all fired 75s.
Davie baseball squandered a 3-1 lead in a 6-3 home loss to North Stanly. The highlights were center fielder Rickey Dyson’s throw to home for an out and Barker’s two hits and two RBIs.
Ken Jordan, Rick Maxey, Dickie Vogler, John Grace, Blaine Burton and Scott Haire were responsible for singles wins as Davie boys tennis blanked West Rowan 9-0.
For Davie baseball, Stan Riddle turned in a dynamic effort in a 2-0, eight-inning loss to visiting Mooresville. Riddle dueled with Mooresville’s Bobby Craig, who walked 10 but made up for it by throwing a no-hitter. With the score 0-0 in the top of the eighth, three straight walks loaded the bases with no outs. The Blue Devils tried a suicide squeeze bunt, but catcher Dale Latham tagged out the runner coming from third. Shortstop Kim Seaford got a force-out at home for the second out, but then Mooresville hit a two-run double. Riddle finished with a three-hitter and nine strikeouts.
Riddle was impressive again in a 14-5 win over North Iredell, striking out seven of the 10 batters he faced.
Mark Boger supplied two hits and two RBIs to lift Davie baseball to a 3-2 win over South Iredell. Riddle, Larry Carter and Andy Rutledge did the job on the mound, and Davie did all its scoring in the third inning. Dale Sherrill was hit by a pitch and scored on a Dyson hit. The big blow came from Boger, who followed with a two-run single.