Davis twins help West Bloomfield dominate final, but it's a reminder why change is needed
EAST LANSING — The West Bloomfield girls basketball team showed up at the Breslin Center Saturday hoping to win its second Division 1 state championship in three years.
And the young ladies weren’t messing around.
With surgical precision, the Lakers made quick work of upstart Grand Blanc, breezing to a 60-30 victory in a game that wasn’t even as close as the final score didn’t indicate.
Summer Davis (14 points) began the game by nailing a 3-point shot as the Lakers scored the game’s first 10 points.
By the time the first quarter ended, West Bloomfield’s lead was 15-1.
When Summer began the second quarter with another 3, it was evident this game was not going to end well for Grand Blanc.
FULL GAME RECAP: Georgia-bound Davis twins finish epic West Bloomfield run with state title over Grand Blanc
Summer’s twin sister, Indya (13 points), scored a couple of hoops to close out the first half with a 33-17 lead, which brings us to the possibility of re-seeding the final four.
Bally Sports Detroit televises the girls and boys state championship games and it would be nice to have it set up for the best two final four teams to conceivably meet in the finals instead of being stuck with a blowout no one wanted to see.
Once the Michigan High School Athletic Association began seeding the districts, why stop there?
For instance, thanks to Indya’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation Friday night, the Lakers were able to go into overtime to beat Rockford, the team they lost to in the finals a year ago.
Now that game would have been terrific television and would have been an easy fix after Tuesday’s quarterfinal games.
It should have been a surprise to absolutely no one that Grand Blanc was out of its league in this one.
West Bloomfield clobbered Grand Blanc, 67-28, in the final regular season game.
MORE ON THE TWINS: West Bloomfield's Davis twins star together, but have their differences, too
What this game did was provide a fitting climax to the Davis Twins’ high school careers.
The 5-foot-9 identical twins have another title to go with the one they won two years ago when they were sophomores and emerged on the state-wide stage.
A player and a coach were diagnosed with COVID three years ago, which kept the Lakers out of the tournament that season.
“When we first entered high school I wanted to do it our freshman year, have a chance to do it that year, but COVID came up,” said Summer. “Our sophomore year we won it and this year we were ready to win it again.
“Every year we’ve always strived to win the state championship.”
West Bloomfield’s phenomenal start was especially impressive because the team could've easily taken Grand Blanc lightly after the result earlier this year.
Hey, these are kids and it’s just natural to expect another easy win.
“It was difficult, yeah,” Indya said. “It’s hard to beat a team you blew out a second time. They wanted to get their get-back and get revenge.”
Instead, the Lakers were ready and wanted to make this an easy win. They came out in full attack mode and made life miserable for Grand Blanc.
They were like assassins and the Bobcats were in their way.
They played a smothering defense as the Bobcats, other than Chelsea Bishop, who was excellent in a 20-point performance, struggled to get off decent shots.
“We came out with the same mentality we had all year,” Indya said. “If we can blow them out, we’ll blow them out. We’re going to play as hard as we actually can.”
"But we stayed down and did what we wanted and got the outcome we wanted.”
When push came to shove, it was not difficult for the Lakers to remain focused even as the lead grew to epic proportions.
This was a business trip for these guys.
“We were all here for one goal,” said Summer. “We kept looking at that goal, we’re not going to worry about who’s in front of us.”
It turns out that whoever was in front of the Lakers got steamrolled.
Indya was the one who took the crucial game-winning shot against Rockford because Summer made sure she got the ball.
“I don’t regret getting her the ball, not one bit,” Summer said, laughing. “I trusted her with that shot.”
She also trusted her to keep their dreams of winning another title together alive.
“It means everything,” Summer said. “Not everyone can get to play with their sister and win a state championship with her twice. I’m very honored to play with her.”
And they will continue to play together for the next four years at the University of Georgia.
There was absolutely no argument when it came time to pick a school. All they knew for sure was that they wanted to be together.
“I do want to be around her,” Indya said. “We’ll be roommates.”
That makes sense because even though their home has vacant bedrooms, they choose to share the same one.
As they left the Breslin Center, Indya felt overcome by a sense of tranquility.
“It feels like I can relax now,” Indya said. “No more pressure, I feel good. I feel good that we accomplished our goals. And we did all we could for West Bloomfield.”
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Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Free Press. Contact him at mick.mccabe11@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1. Save $10 on his new book, “Mick McCabe’s Golden Yearbook: 50 Great Years of Michigan’s Best High School Players, Teams & Memories,” by ordering right now at McCabe.PictorialBook.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: West Bloomfield girl's dominant win a reminder why change is needed
