Dragon Hoopsters Celebrate Winning Season
While falling short of capturing the Hillsborough County championship last fall, the Davidsen Middle School boys basketball team is still basking in the glow of its unbeaten regular season. A banner was hung from the Davidsen gymnasium rafters to celebrate the Dragons’ accomplishment.
“It’s the first banner we have here for boys basketball,’’ sixth-year Davidsen coach Ruth Pelfrey said.
Additionally, Davidsen players now wear black hoodies that advertise the entire roster and the school’s “First Ever Undefeated Basketball Team!’’
“It’s a season we’re always going to remember,’’ said eighth-grader Mason Turner of The Fords. “We worked together as a team. We probably weren’t the most talented team, but we definitely had the most heart. That’s what made us win.’’
Pelfrey said the Dragons were paced by Turner’s rebounding, Tarence Brown’s clutch performance at point guard and Mitchel Pienias’ all-around play, along with solid contributions from Hunter Hickman, Austin Arnold, Jalen Frazer, Justin Potts, Isaiah Kidd and Jack Brzezinski.
But Pelfrey also gave special play to the team’s sixth-graders. Due to the county’s middle-school athletic rules, the first six minutes of each 20-minute half are played strictly by sixth-graders. It’s meant to encourage fair participation for the team’s youngest players, and a strong unit of sixth-graders can make or break a team’s record.
For Davidsen, the young players more than held up their end of the bargain.
“Overall, it was a great group of kids,’’ said Pelfrey, a math teacher at Davidsen. “One thing we run into at this level is kids falling into one niche of sports and staying there. Parents tend to pigeonhole them into one thing.
“You kind of have to beat the bushes. Sometimes, kids are committed to hockey, football or baseball. This is a great opportunity to try out for a sport at your school and be part of some huge school pride. The success we had this season obviously made it fun for everyone, so we’re hoping even more boys will want to be part of it.’’
Davidsen defeated Ben Hill (17-9), Smith (33-25), Farnell (34-31), Walker (40-15), Webb (31-27) and Martinez (41-29) in its six-game regular season.
In the county playoffs, the Dragons downed Liberty, 46-39, in the quarterfinals, although Pienias was sidelined by an ankle injury. Playing without Pienias and Turner, who was ill, the Dragons fell against Adams, 26-25, in a heartbreaking county semifinal.
“If we had those two players, who knows?’’ Pelfrey said. “I feel pretty certain that we would’ve been playing in the championship game (against Tomlin, the eventual winner). It was frustrating to come so close, but this was a great, great season.’’
Brown was the team’s leading scorer with 70 points in eight games. Pienias had 53 points, despite missing two full games and most of another due to injury. Hickman added 25 points while Frazer had 23.
For the sixth-graders, Ne’Andre Wilson led the way with 25 points while Dylan Jackson and Alex Johnson each contributed 12 points.
Other Davidsen team members included Robert Gadson, Rashid Braimah, Neftali Ortiz, Alex Fernandez, Drew Price, Jared Clark and Broderick Dennis.
“Some of the other teams might have had a bunch of superstars, but maybe they didn’t click as well as we did,’’ said Arnold, a Fords resident. “I think it’s going to be great to come back in the gym one day and see our names on a banner. Everybody contributed something to this team.’’
By Joey Johnston
Joey Johnston is a resident of The Shires and always looking for great sports stories to cover. E-mail him at akjohnston@verizon.net.