Wolves Basketball Teams prepare for Regional Tournament

By Jeff Mapes
The Davis Wolves basketball teams hit the road twice this past week for the regular-season finale and the start of postseason.
Davis visited Lexington Feb. 13 in the last game of the regular season and earned a split with the Bulldogs. The Lady Wolves posted their third straight victory over Lexington while the Wolves lost in a physical contest.
Davis was matched up against conference-foe Marlow for the Class 3A Area 3 District 5 Tournament played Feb. 18. Both squads suffered double-digit defeats to the highly-ranked Outlaws.
Girls’ Games
Lady Wolves 38 Lexington 25
Preslee Hunt hit two 3s in the first quarter that helped Davis build a 12-6 lead. The freshman hit three 3s in the game and led with 13 points.
Kensley Barnes and Chloe Summers combined for 15 first-half points, pushing the Lady Wolves to a 21-10 cushion at halftime.
“We played pretty good in that game,” said Lady Wolves head coach Jeff Brown. “We played really good defense and we started to pull away from them.”
Davis limited the Lady Bulldogs to four points in both the second and third quarter. The lead swelled to 20 points early in the second half.
“With Chloe and Preslee, it only takes them a couple of shots and the score goes up considerably,” Brown said. “When they’re hitting those three-pointers.”
Barnes finished with 10, Summers had seven and Jacobi LaNoy added six.
The Lady Wolves finished the conference season with a 5-9 record.
Marlow 32 Lady Wolves 22
A 9-0 run late in the third quarter proved to be the difference for the 12th-ranked Lady Outlaws.
Then there were three ties and five lead changes in the third. Mattie Morton’s layup with 6:20 in the third gave Davis its first lead at 15-14.
The Lady Wolves’ final lead came 2:38 later at 19-18 on Barnes’s two free throws. Marlow then scored nine straight and led 27-19 going into the fourth quarter.
“It’s a tough matchup,” Brown said of playing Marlow. “It’s tough for both teams. “They do a really good job of playing team defense. We run all the plays, but they did a good job of covering them.”
Hunt opened the fourth with a 3 for the Lady Wolves’ only points in the period. Marlow was held scoreless until 2:06 remaining and was limited to five free throws down the stretch.
“We know each other so well,” Brown said. “Both teams know what we have to do and both teams did a pretty good job of taking that away.”
The loss drops the Lady Wolves’ overall record to 10-13. Despite the loss, Davis still advances to the losers’ bracket of the Regional Tournament. The Lady Wolves will face Tishomingo Feb. 23 at 1:30 pm in Marlow.
Boys’ Games
Lexington 48 Wolves 38
Lexington used a 20-11 scoring advantage in the second quarter to push away from the Wolves.
Davis led 12-8 but the Bulldogs hit three 3s in the second to gain the lead. Lexington nailed seven 3s in the game.
“It’s turned into a rivalry game for us,” said Wolves head coach Dakota Blackwell. “It’s pretty competitive every time we play.”
Lexington outscored the Wolves 13-10 in the third quarter and led 41-33 at the break. Davis cut the lead to five on multiple occasions but couldn’t regain the lead.
“They’ve got some pretty athletic kids who can shoot it well,” Blackwell said. “I thought it was our worst game over the last month. We still had a chance at the end, just couldn’t make enough shots.”
Jake Parker, Wyatt Fielding and Dalton Hefley each scored eight points. Tye Barnett added seven.
Marlow 60 Wolves 45
There was one tie and two lead changes midway through the first quarter, but the seventh-ranked Outlaws used a 7-0 run to lead 17-12 at the break.
Marlow outscored the Wolves 22-6 in the second period. A shot at the buzzer gave the Outlaws their largest first-half lead at 39-18.
“I thought we had a good start to the game,” Blackwell said. “They made shots about 70 percent in the first half and they scored on every possession in the second quarter. That quarter was the difference.”
Marlow led by as many as 25 at 54-29 with 6:45 remaining in the game. Davis held a 27-21 scoring advantage in the second half and finished the game on a 16-6 run.
“Other than that, we played with them, just that one quarter,” Blackwell said. “We did some good stuff and our shooters were finally stepping up and hitting some shots.”
Three Davis players finished in double figures, including Parker who led with 14. Hefley and Dakota Carter added 11 apiece.
The Wolves will take a 6-17 record into the losers’ bracket of the Regional Tournament. Davis will play Dickson Feb. 23 at Marlow at 3 P.M.
Girls’ Game Summary
Davis 12 9 9 8-38
Lexington 6 4 4 11-25
Davis- Preslee Hunt 13, Kensley Barnes 10, Chloe Summers 7, Jacobi LaNoy 6 and Mattie Morton 2.
Girls’ Game Summary
Davis 4 6 9 3-22
Marlow 7 7 13 5-32
Davis- Kensley Barnes 7, Chloe Summers 7, Preslee Hunt 5, Mattie Morton 2 and Jocobi LaNoy 1.
Boys’ Game Summary
Davis 12 11 10 5- 38
Lexington 8 20 13 7- 48
Davis- Jake Parker 8, Wyatt Fielding 8, Dalton Hefley 8, Tye Barnett 7, Spencer Clinton 4 and Dakota Carter 3.
Boys’ Game Summary
Davis 12 6 11 16-45
Marlow 17 22 10 11-60
Davis- Jake Parker 14, Dakota Carter 11, Dalton Hefley 11, Wyatt Fielding 4, Spencer Clinton 3 and Tyson Moss 2.