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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

The Davie JV boys basketball team has shown – at times – why it’s capable of playing with just about anybody in the Central Piedmont Conference.

It did not show it in the first half against visiting Parkland on Jan. 12 – the Mustangs were within five at intermission – but the War Eagles regrouped at halftime and completely took Parkland apart in the second half.

“In the third quarter, we played good defense, we stopped giving up layups in the paint, and we got out and ran and got some easy ones,” coach Tracey Arnold said after the War Eagles belted Parkland 77-44.

Parkland outplayed Davie in the second quarter and trailed 34-29 at halftime. Then came complete domination by the War Eagles, who outscored the visitors 24-8 in the third. Six guys produced points in the period (CJ Coleman, Jake Runge, Jayden Warren, Braxton Bowling, Brady Vallance and George Sakai), and Davie continued to maul the Mustangs in the fourth.

“We hit some 3s, it just clicked and we kept building and kept building,” Arnold said.

The War Eagles needed a big effort after crumbling 71-32 at Mt. Tabor in the previous game, and after dropping three of the past four.

“If I can get them to play like we did tonight, we will be tough in conference,” Arnold said.

Davie (8-3, 2-2 CPC) doesn’t lack weapons. Coleman has enjoyed games with 19 and 22 points. Ben Reid had put up 18 and 21. Runge has recorded 15- and 14-point nights. Vallance has scored 18 and 17.

This game belonged to Bowling. Despite coming in with a 4.2 average, despite going scoreless four straight games at one point in the season, the freshman went off for 19 against Parkland.

“We’ve got five players (Reid, Runge, Coleman, Bowling and Vallance) who can get you 20 on any given night,” Arnold said. “Braxton had a real good game. He has been practicing good since Christmas. He had eight (points) against Mt. Tabor, but we played a bad game. I moved him back to the one, and he has taken off and been doing a good job at the one. He got hot. He was hitting step-backs, going to the rim, hitting 3s, everything. He got in a zone.”

Runge was second with 11, followed by Coleman (10), Reid (7), Warren (6), Cameron Knox (6), Sakai (6), Vallance (5), Aiden Horton (4), Ian Patton (2) and Ty Greene (1).