»RELATED: Wednesday’s high school roundup
»RELATED: Wednesday’s high school scoreboard
That summer, Davis improved both his 3-point shooting and his ability to shoot off the dribble. He’s lead the Lions in scoring ever since.
With just a few games remaining, Davis, a four-year letterwinner, is rewriting the Lions’ record book. He’ll likely finish his career as the school’s second all-time leading scorer and the school’s all-time leading rebounder.
“Emmanuel has been home and the team has really been a family,” Davis said. “Playing these four years has been the best thing that’s happened to me.”
Over the past two seasons, Davis and the Lions have reached new heights. Last season, the Lions played in the Division IV district final for the first time in school history.
The Lions are 14-4 and 9-2 in the Metro Buckeye Conference this season, the most victories they’ve had since 2010. They remain two games back of Xenia Legacy Christian (17-3, 13-1) in the Metro Buckeye Conference title race.
Davis is averaging 15.4 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Lions. He scored 23 points in a 75-60 victory over Legacy Christian, the Knights first conference loss of the season.
“It was huge,” Davis said. “It was everything we were looking forward to, everything connecting. We played our best.”
The next night, Davis scored 12 points in a 62-52 victory against Southeastern to give the senior his 1,000th career point. He’s just the third player in school history to accomplish the feat behind Ryan Reep and Nathan Reep. He also pulled down seven boards to become the school’s all-time leading rebounder, breaking the previous record held by Michael Elliott, a 2006 graduate.
The accomplishment couldn’t have happened without the support of his teammates and coaches, Davis said.
“The school has treated me well,” he said. “(Coach Moore) has been the best coach I’ve ever had. Getting my 1,000th point was amazing, but we still have business to take care of.”
Davis’ scoring numbers are down slightly this season, but that’s by design, Moore said. Davis is working hard to get his teammates more involved, Moore said. The Lions have four players in double figures, including Davis, juniors Casey Swank (13.5 points per game) and Fred Shropshire (13.3) and sophomore Jason Channels (10.4).
“This year, it’s all about finding other guys,” he said. “He doesn’t have to do it every night.”
Davis was hoping to play basketball in college, but a lot of schools don’t offer his major.
“It’s really come down to a situation where it would take up a lot of my time,” he said. “I really want to focus on school.”
As his career winds down, Davis hopes to get the most out of the remaining gams on the Lions’ schedule.
“I really want to cherish them,” Davis said. “Coming down to the end of the year, it’s getting sad for me. I know we still have business to take care of. We just have to go in and get these wins.”
While the Lions have an outside shot at the league title, their attention has shifted to the postseason. The Lions could earn a top-4 seed in this weekend’s D-IV sectional draw.
“It’s all about finishing strong,” Moore said. “Everything we can do to get ready for tournament is our focus right now.”
Big game: Springfield travels to Wayne on Friday night in a huge Greater Western Ohio Conference National East Division game.
The Wildcats are 12-7 and 9-1 in the division. They lead both Wayne (11-8, 8-2) by one game and Centerville (13-5, 7-2) by 1½ games.
Springfield controls its own destiny in the National East Division. The Wildcats can clinch the outright division title with wins at Wayne on Friday and at Fairmont on Tuesday.
The Wildcats host D-II No. 1 Trotwood-Madison (16-2) in their home finale at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15.
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