UMS-Wright eighth-grade point guard Ava Davidson and Bulldogs coach Terry Canova celebrate near the end of a 52-40 win over Andalusia in the Class 5A South Regional semifinals Thursday at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery. Davidson scored 12 points in the victory. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
MONTGOMERY — UMS-Wright eighth-grade point guard Ava Davidson has plenty of game but that is not why Bulldogs coach Terry Canova has put the ball in her hands.
“When you’re an eighth grader and you have the opportunity to play with some alphas, some older kids, some big personalities, it’s a challenge,” Canova said after Davidson scored 12 points to help UMS-Wright to a 52-40 win over Andalusia Thursday in the Class 5A South Regional semifinals at Garrett Coliseum.
“To be mentally tough enough to withstand the rollercoaster that is a 30-plus (game) season and when your teammates are mad at you, to be able to process that as an eighth grader is special.”
Davidson’s teammates had nothing to be mad about Thursday. She swished a pair of three-pointers. She penetrated and scored. She drove and dished against Andalusia’s woman-to-man defense. She even mixed it up and scrambled for offensive rebounds.
“Last year, it was more just get us an offense, right?” Canova said. “Handle the press for us, give us an extra ball handler, but what has happened at the latter part of the season is she’s made some big buckets for us. She went a bunch of games this year with maybe two points. For her to come out and have a game like this is something.”
Center Ansleigh Ishee added 14 points and 9 rebounds for the Bulldogs (24-8), who never trailed on their way to their 12th straight win and the regional final Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. against Vigor (22-10).
UMS-Wright made 15 of 18 free throws and its matchup zone defense held Andalusia (19-6) to 31% shooting, including just 2 of 8 three pointers.
Canova went to his bench early and often and rotated in five more players to keep his defense fresh and effective with pressure on the ball out front.
“The defense depends on who we play,” Canova said. “That’s one of the things I really like about this team is we’re a little bit of a chameleon. A lot of our wins this year came strictly off the press. A couple wins recently have come off a half-court D.”
