Davis led Center Moriches to new heights

Take a glance at Amber Davis and more than likely, a smile adorns her face. But more than one hour before the Long Island girls basketball championship against Cold Spring Harbor last month, the Center Moriches senior had a grim look.

Davis suffered a severe right ankle sprain at the end of the first half against Glenn in the Suffolk Small Schools championship. The 5-9 guard/forward missed the rest of the game and the next one. Davis was walking around in a boot and wasn't going to play unless Center Moriches was on the precipice of losing against Cold Spring Harbor.

"I was kind of sad," Davis said. "It's my senior year and I couldn't play in the Long Island championship. I wasn't expecting to go in. Coach [Rich Alifano] kept looking at me and I was ready."

With 3:04 left in the game and the Red Devils clinging to a two-point lead, Davis entered. She immediately threaded a nice one-bounce pass into the post setting up a three-point play for Kelsey Glanzman. Davis grabbed a rebound and later hit a three-pointer with 1:28 left to make it 39-28.

She played two minutes and the lead increased by nine points en route to the victory.

Davis had that type of impact all season and is the winner of the Charles H. Clark Award as Newsday's Long Island Player of the Year. She averaged 15.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals, and finished her career with 1,510 points and 1,048 rebounds in five seasons. She led the team in scoring every season.

"I definitely had faith in my team," Davis said. "It's not all about me. I knew they could do it. It was difficult to watch. I'm so used to playing. It's never hard to cheer your teammates on and encourage them."

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Said Alifano: "I was surprised she handled it so well. She sat on the bench and didn't get in my ear all game. She was all about the team."

Three days later, Davis started against Irvington, the defending state and Federation champions, in the Class B Southeast Regional final.

"It really hurt," Davis said. "I just fought through it. I definitely didn't expect it to be easy. I wasn't going to come out at all. It was hard to move and cut. I couldn't go left."

Davis couldn't have performed better. She scored 18 points and played the entire game as the Red Devils led most of the way before relinquishing the lead for good with about two minutes left in a 58-51 loss.

"I thought she would play a few minutes, stand around and maybe hit a few shots before coming out of the game," Alifano said. "I never expected that from her. She had no ability to jump, so she wasn't able to rebound. She didn't practice at all. I couldn't believe what was going on. Those two games were her best performances. That said a lot about her competitiveness."

Davis was a threat from the perimeter and could score inside. The biggest difference in her game this season was better defense and a leadership role she embraced.

"I think she became more of a leader than I thought she would be," Alifano said. "It became her team."

Davis was a huge part of the ascension of the Red Devils. When Davis came to Center Moriches in eighth grade, the program wasn't known. The Red Devils didn't make the playoffs her first two seasons before winning the Suffolk Class B championships and Long Island championships her final two seasons.

"It was an awesome season and career," Davis said. "We made history in my junior and senior years. We're a small school, and I'm glad to be a part of making us one of the top teams on Long Island. Getting Miss Suffolk topped it off."