Viks Arrive Early Cda Girls Back In Title Hunt Sooner Than Expected
Shaylia Davis expects her Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball team to challenge for the Border League championship next year.
The fact that Davis and her teammates can earn a share of the conference title this season is evidence of how far CdA has come since coach Bill Pratt took over last year.
The Vikings are experiencing their first winning season since Coeur d’Alene won a state title in its last year (1993-94) as the lone high school in town.
CdA floundered for three seasons following its state title run. But under Pratt, the Viks began to turn the corner toward winning last year. They hope to complete the revival with a trip to state.
“It’s been the goal of the juniors since we were freshmen,” said Davis, one of CdA’s seven in the eighth grade at Canfield Middle School. The vast majority of players in CdA’s program played for Pratt in middle school.
He’ll send another group to the high school after this year, which he plans to be his last at Canfield.
It’s not likely Pratt, 53, will be around to watch his 8th-graders graduate at CdA.
“This is not a career thing,” Pratt said. “I’m doing this for the short term, not long term.”
Davis, for one, is thankful Pratt is her head coach again.
A 3-year starter, Davis has emerged as one of the top posts in a post-dominated league.
“She’s the best post in the league,” Pratt said. “In the second half of the season, she’s been double-teamed. Early in the season, she had a few 20-point games. But teams have done a good job of trying to take her out of the offense.”
So, Davis has tried to do other things to give herself scoring opportunities. Frequently, Davis finds herself on the scoring end of a fast break. She’s also made herself a presence on the offensive boards.
“She runs the court well for a post,” Pratt said.
Post is not the position Davis will play after high school. She needs sneakers on to be officially listed at 6 feet, so she’ll likely have to be a “3” or wing in college. Only in an ideal situation could she be a power forward.
Davis has all the moves as a high school post, though. She’s adept at pinning and sealing opponents in the low post and using her quickness to maneuver around defenders. A fadeaway, turnaround jumper keeps post of equal height or taller from blocking her shots.
She also has 3-point shooting range, and is particularly effective from 16 to 18 feet. But Pratt isn’t quite willing to give Davis the green light on the perimeter.
“I’m a guard in a post’s body,” Davis said, laughing. “But I understand what Coach Pratt wants me to do.”
Said Pratt: “I’ve told her that if I let her spend time out there (the perimeter), people are going to think I’m nuts because I’ve got the best post in the league.”
Pratt plans to let Davis develop her perimeter offense and defense in the off-season. Davis also will play in the Spokane Stars program for a second year and hopes to gain valuable exposure should her U-17 team advance to nationals.
Davis scored a career-high 26 points in CdA’s first-ever win over Lake City in December. She’s averaging just under 14 points and six rebounds. Recently, though, she’s put up double-doubles.
“I think her game is pretty darn complete,” Pratt said. “It’s just a matter of getting better, polishing things.”
CdA (12-4) can earn a share of the league title and the top seed to next week’s regional tourney Friday when Moscow visits. Moscow (14-3) takes the league title outright with a victory.
Moscow beat CdA 53-39 on Dec. 1 when the Viks played without point guard Patti Stranger (broken hand) and got into early foul trouble.
“We’re not the same team now that we were then,” Davis said.
No matter the final results of this season, CdA is destined for success in the bigger picture. The Viks will return four starters and nine letterwinners next year.
“A league title should be our expectation next year,” Davis said.
It could come as early as Friday.