Preps

Basketball: No more dirty work

With the Messina twins graduated, Academy of the Holy Names' Katie Davis steps up.

By BRANDON WRIGHT, Times Correspondent
Published December 2, 2007

TAMPA - Dribbling a ball with each hand, Academy of the Holy Names' Katie Davis heads upcourt as her teammates struggle with the drill. She bounces the balls effortlessly in unison before pausing to cross over to her other hand. At one point, the junior guard goes behind her back with one ball while dribbling the other, never missing a beat.

Making the tricky ball-handling drill look routine, Davis reaches the finish first.

"Always does," AHN coach Casey Higgins said.

When Higgins talks about Davis' game, she uses superlatives like "special" and "talented." But when Higgins speaks to Davis' leadership, the seventh-year coach gushes.

"Katie's a workhorse," she said. "She is a great role model and leader. She plays every minute like it's her last on both ends of the floor. An absolute coach's dream."

Davis' role - both on and off the court - has changed dramatically in the course of a year. Last season, with twins Gianna and Catriana Messina leading the team in points and publicity, Davis did what Higgins called "the dirty work" to complement the talented duo.

"Stuff (Davis) did didn't show up in the scoring column," Higgins said. "She was on the floor diving all over the place, getting all the rebounds."

Davis may have led the team in floor burns, but the Messinas took care of the scoring load. Gianna led the county in scoring the past two years, and Catriana topped Hillsborough in assists during the same stretch, while Davis averaged just 8.8 ppg last season.

"I did a lot of the little things," Davis said. "But I learned to play my role."

With the Messinas moving on and a gapping hole left in the scoring column, Davis knew her time was coming. She spent the offseason training at Tampa's Southeast Basketball Academy, developing her offensive arsenal. Davis' summer vacation consisted of weights, ball-handling and shooting drills.

The result? Davis' scoring average has ballooned to nearly 25 ppg this season for the 6-0 Jaguars.

"This is something I was ready for," Davis said. "I worked hard in the summer to be prepared to take on a lot more (scoring) responsibility."

Perhaps no two points of the young season were more important than against AHN's archrival Tampa Catholic on Wednesday. Davis' layup with four seconds left gave the Jaguars a thrilling 58-57 win.

"It was pretty cool," Davis said. "But it was big for us because we want to show people that this isn't a rebuilding year."

And that was the assumption when the Jaguars lost three starters off last year's team that reached the state semifinals before losing to eventual champion Florida High. But Davis, who was named captain before the season, said forget the comparisons to last year's Jaguars.

"We have a whole new dynamic," Davis said.

While the lineup shuffling has been significant, it may be Davis' leadership that has provided the biggest change. If the Messinas' style was in-your-face heavy metal, Davis' provides more of an orchestral technique.

"She's a quiet leader, much more non verbal than in years past," Higgins said. "But the players really respect her because no matter what, her work ethic is there. If she has a bad day in class or whatever, she never brings it out to the court."

Follow the leader.

[Last modified December 1, 2007, 20:21:33]