R.J. Reynolds and Davie are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2020, but not for long. The R.J. Reynolds Demons are taking a road trip to square off against the Davie War Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
R.J. Reynolds came up short against West Forsyth last Thursday, falling 76-53. While losing is never fun, the Demons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 356th, while the Titans are ranked 35th).
Despite the loss, R.J. Reynolds had strong showings from Andreas Kazakos, who went 5 of 11 en route to 16 points, and Kingston Carmichael, who posted 12 points. Tommy Elrod was another key player, putting up six points.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Davie). They breezed by Glenn to the tune of 78-51 on Wednesday. The War Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matches by 20 points or more this season.
R.J. Reynolds better focus on containing Asher Tolbert and Jackson Powers as the pair were huge in Davie's win. Tolbert went 5 for 7 on his way to 16 points, while Powers went 5 of 8 en route to 12 points in addition to seven rebounds and three blocks. Another player making a difference was Ethan Driver, who scored eight points along with six boards and five assists.
Davie was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Glenn only racked up 11 assists.
Davie has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.3 points per game. As for R.J. Reynolds, their defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 5-8.
R.J. Reynolds skirted past Davie 65-62 in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. Does R.J. Reynolds have another victory up their sleeve, or will Davie turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
