Davis grabs weekly honor

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 9, 2013

In some way, shape or form, Pleasant Home senior Lance Davis has had a basketball in his hands.

Now at 6-foot and 180 pounds, Davis has put his basketball IQ on full display for the Eagles this season.

In fact, Davis shot a career-best 43 points to help lift PHS to a 67-60 victory over Baker, Fla. on Saturday night, and that was good enough to earn him The Star-News’ Player of the Week honors.

After the victory, Davis talked about his performance, noting that he couldn’t have done it without his teammates.

He gave most of the credit to them for either “skipping” or “cutting” the ball to him for easy buckets. Skipping and cutting are PHS terms for passing or getting the ball to open players.

“They would drop-back in a zone, which at the beginning of the game allowed me to shoot,” Davis said after the game. “Then, they went to man-to-man and they had a smaller player guarding me so, I kept attacking and got a few lay ups out of it on a fast break.”

Growing up, Davis watched his father and coach, Jerry Davis, lead and instruct teams to success while in Florida and during his stint in Alabama.

“My basketball knowledge and IQ have increased and there are plenty of his coaching friends who I’ve talked to,” Lance said.

When asked how big his knowledge of basketball is, Davis said it’s pretty broad.

“I feel like it’s pretty wide because I’ve grown up around basketball,” he said. “Since I’ve been able to walk around, I’ve been dribbling and just always had one in my hand whenever I couldn’t walk around.”

On the court, Lance shows his skills with ease, dodging defenders with speed, finding open men on a pass or taking the ball in for a score.

Playing with others at Johnson Park for the past three years has helped his game tremendously, Davis said.

“Up there, it’s pretty much a fast-paced environment,” he said. “It’s more get it and go. With me being able to shoot, it also helps a lot. It’s a lot of one-man play.

“Since I am slower than a lot of the kids up there, I feel like I have good court vision and I can make passes to help my team,” he said.

Davis broke his arm three years ago after falling from landing a dunk during seventh period. He had to have surgery on his right arm and his left was shattered so bad that “Dr. (Chris) O’Grady said it was the worst dislocation he’s ever seen.”

“He actually popped in (Boston Celtics point guard) Rajon Rondo’s elbow or shoulder a week before,” Davis said. “I saw (NFL wide receiver) Terrell Owens while there.”

Davis said he was pretty happy with his 43-point effort on Saturday night, but scoring more than his teammates isn’t his goal.

“Pretty much wins are the goal,” he said. “The more I play with my team, you get better and better. The young kids will get better and better. You have to adapt to their style of play.”