Davis Leaves His Seat to Help Rescue Warriors

Reggie Davis was surprisingly content as he sat and watched his Brethren Christian teammates rally Saturday.

Ordinarily, Davis is a key figure in the fourth quarter for the Warriors, who trailed Palos Verdes Chadwick by eight points with less than four minutes to play.

And with the Southern California Division V boys’ title and a trip to the State championship game on the line at Cal State Dominguez Hills, it seemed that Davis should be playing a large part in any Brethren Christian come-from-behind heroics.

But Davis was on the bench, having been taken out with five minutes left and the Warriors behind, 42-34. A strange location, perhaps, for Brethren Christian’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder, but apparently the sideline was the right place at the right time for both Davis and the Warriors.

With Davis sitting, Brethren Christian went on a 9-2 run to make it 44-43 with 1 minute, 49 seconds left.

“The team that was out there was getting the job done, and I said ‘Fine, I’ll watch them bring it home,’ ” Davis said. “I didn’t think I’d go back in, because we were playing better without me.”

One Warrior who stepped up while Davis sat was center Andy Brown, who had little effect on the game until the fourth quarter. Brown had three of his seven rebounds during Brethren Christian’s run and was more aggressive on defense.

“I wasn’t really part of the game (until the fourth quarter), I was just playing in the game,” Brown said. “I just tried to get more involved.”

While the Warriors rallied, Brethren Christian Coach Richard Thomas didn’t forget about Davis. The Warriors had the ball with 13 seconds left, still trailing by a point, when Thomas sent Davis back in.

Guard Richard Mendoza drove the lane as the clock ran down and passed underneath to Davis, who was fouled while shooting with one second left.

Chadwick then called consecutive timeouts in an attempt to cool him down, which Davis appreciated.

“I’d been on the bench for about five minutes, and those timeouts really helped me, because I got to go out there and look at the basket twice,” Davis said. “I knew they were trying to freeze me, but the timeouts helped get me back in the groove.”

Davis got into enough of a groove to make the first attempt, tying the score, 44-44, before missing the second long to force overtime.

In overtime, Brown came forward again with a key offensive rebound basket to tie the score, 46-46, and then grabbed a defensive rebound that gave the Warriors the final and winning possession.

Mendoza’s free throw with four seconds left gave the Warriors the 47-46 victory for the championship and the trip to Oakland, but Thomas didn’t forget the plays by Brown and Davis that gave Brethren Christian the chance to win.

“Andy got revitalized somehow in the fourth quarter and took that intensity right on through the overtime,” Thomas said. “Reggie’s one of our best free throwers, and I wanted him on the court in that situation (at the end of regulation) because of that and because he makes things happen for us.”