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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

There was nothing to like about the first half of the season opener at Alexander Central on Nov. 22. Things were a lot better in the second half as Davie’s varsity boys basketball team won going away, 53-47, after trailing by as many as 13 and by 11 at halftime.
The sleepwalking War Eagles were down 16-3 early in the second quarter. At that point, they were 0 for 10 from the field and 0-6 from the 3-point line. Finally, they found their pulse when Asher Tolbert, a transfer from Calvary, sank a 3 with 6:28 on the second-quarter clock. Jackson Powers followed with a triple and Davie was done playing with its food.
But when Davie entered the locker room behind 29-18, it had to face coach Josh Pittman’s wrath.
“I told y’all what was on the board,” he said. “I told y’all how the game was going to play out if we weren’t prepared, and look how the game is playing out. I told y’all No. 3 needs to have 25 points for them to win, and he got 14.”
Motivated Davie torched Central 35-18 in the second half. A 16-4 run at the start of the third was spearheaded by Elliott Erlandsson’s six points. When Bryson Mickey hit a pair of free throws, Davie had its first lead at 34-33.
A key bucket came from Adam Brown. After his team missed six straight shots, Brown scored on a nice drive to provide a 40-39 lead. It was 44-44 before Powers scored five during a 6-0 burst. Davie did not look back from there.
“Asher played well off the bench,” Pittman said. “Adam played really well, especially in the second half. Landon King did some positive things.”
Powers led the way with 14 points and eight rebounds. Mickey put up 10 points, four assists, four steals and four rebounds. Erlandsson turned in 10 points and five rebounds. Ethan Driver contributed two points, eight rebounds and five assists even though he sat for eight minutes in the second half with four fouls.
“It’s hard to play against a zone all night,” Pittman said. “The reaction we had in the second half was everything I could’ve asked for and more.”
Notes: It was a little deja vu. Last year Davie beat Central 62-53 after starting the fourth quarter in a 47-33 hole. … After shooting 6 of 23 in the first half, Davie went 12 of 23 in the second. … Both teams struggled from deep. Davie went 3-18 from beyond the arc, while Central went 4-19.
Davie 53, AC 47 – Jackson Powers 14, Bryson Mickey 10, Elliott Erlandsson 10, Adam Brown 7, Cam Owens 5, Asher Tolbert 3, Landon King 2, Ethan Driver 2.