Davis Honored For Membership in 1,000-Point Club

Tim Doherty has seen a lot of players pass through his program in the 19 years that he has been head coach of the girls basketball team.

And Dani Davis is one of the best he has ever coached.

“She was one of the best ever,” Doherty said in an interview Wednesday following the Crusaders loss to Granby Memorial. “She was a real clutch player. She made a last-second layup against Avon to win it. She wanted the ball, wanted to be there. She wanted to be on the court.”

Davis, who earned All-State honors last year and is currently the first player off the bench at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, was honored prior to East Granby’s game against Granby Memorial for scoring over 1,000 points in her high school career (she finished her four years with just over 1,100 points).

She reached the milestone on Feb. 11 against East Windsor at home, becoming just the seventh Crusader, and fourth girl, to score over 1,000 points. Her name was added to a banner that hangs on the far-end of the gym wall and she was presented with a basketball by Doherty to commemorate the feat.

Doherty, who has coached all four girls who have scored over 1,000 points, said that while Davis is a great player, she’s an even better person.

“She’s pretty smart,” Doherty said with a laugh, noting that she is studying mechanical engineering at WPI. “I will only be a visitor there, myself. They wouldn’t let me in there.”

Davis, for her part, said that the ceremony was nice, but that it was also a little strange to come home and be honored in that fashion.

“I have a short time here, but it’s good to see people I haven’t seen in a while,” Davis said.

Indeed, Davis is preparing to travel with her college team to Las Vegas for the D3hoops.com Classic tournament. She said that she is enjoying playing college basketball, though it can be demanding juggling work on the court and in the classroom.

“It’s tough, but it’s worth it,” Davis said. “I like it a lot. College is more organized. It’s definitely a lot more work.”

The Engineers are currently 3-6 as of Thursday morning, and Davis ranks third on the team averaging 6.6 points per game. She’s also tied for first with 13 steals, and she pulls down 3.3 rebounds per game.

Her WPI team shares some of the same attributes as this year’s East Granby squad.

“We’re a young team this year; we have a lot of underclassmen,” Davis said.