JaVontae McDavid was the picture of calm amidst the craziness.
Jay Jay Swanigan had fallen hard on his head in the lane after a foul with 1.8 seconds left and the Columbus and New Hope high school boys basketball teams tied at 58.
While coaches and trainers tended to Swanigan, Columbus coach Sammy Smith didn’t hesitate. He also didn’t need to give McDavid, a sophomore guard, a lecture or to pump him up to give him confidence he could handle the assignment of shooting two free throws for Swanigan.
After all, Smith had seen the “Don’t worry, coach, I got this” look from McDavid earlier in the season, so he believed he had the right player to step to the line with a packed gymnasium full of energy.
McDavid didn’t disappoint.
McDavid’s two free throws helped Columbus complete a comeback from a 15-point deficit with 5 minutes, 33 seconds remaining to beat New Hope 60-58 on Saturday in the final game of the Trojan Holiday Classic.
For his accomplishments, McDavid is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
“He stepped up like a big man and made a big-man shot,” Smith said. “He is really a junior now. It is January. We have played 15 or 16 games and we are at the next level now. Those are the things he is going to have to do if he is going to take over games at the end, even next year.”
All of McDavid’s eight points were critical to the rally. His only field goal was a 3-pointer off an assist from point guard C.J. Scott with 50.7 seconds left that helped Columbus cut the lead to 58-56. Scott’s steal and two free throws with 10.5 seconds helped Columbus capitalize on 10 turnovers by New Hope in the final 5:33 to steal the victory.
Through it all, McDavid appeared non-plussed. Almost two days later, McDavid talked in a matter-of-fact way about stepping up to the free throw line in a cacophony.
“I went out there with the mind-set to want to hit the free throws, so I just trusted in myself I could make the free throws,” McDavid said. “The crowd was all on the other team’s side, so they were trying to get me off track, but I had enough faith in myself I could knock the free throws down, and I did.”
McDavid laid out a plan all free throw shooters can follow regardless of how much time is left on the clock. He said he took his time because free throw shooting is all about concentration. He said he stuck to his technique and didn’t think about what would happen if he missed. That wasn’t easy because Columbus (13-3) went 30 of 50 from the free throw line. There was a violation on another attempt that wasn’t counted. Despite going 13 of 27 in the first half, the Falcons crept back into the game thanks to a 7-of-9 effort in the third quarter, which included three in a row by McDavid after he was fouled shooting a 3-pointer, and a 10-of-14 showing in the fourth quarter. Columbus missed its first two and last two free throws in the final stanza.
Smith said McDavid has been shooting better than 75-80 percent from the free throw line in practice. He didn’t hesitate to go to the sophomore, who responded like a go-to player.
Smith has made a habit of using underclassmen in key roles. Scott, who is now a senior, saw significant playing time running the team as a freshman and as a sophomore. McDavid is in a similar role this season after playing on the Falcons’ junior varsity team last season. Smith likes how McDavid is paying attention and how he has given the team another scoring and ballhandling option in a rotation that goes 10 or more deep nearly every game.
“The guys in the gym getting it done earn it,” Smith said. “He is in the gym and has been doing everything he has been supposed to do up until this point.”
McDavid knows Smith’s penchant for going with players who are ready. That is why he said he wants to work on his intensity in practice to help him prepare for the games. He feels there are plenty of things he can improve on, but he hopes the game against New Hope can help him build confidence to know he can deliver in pressure situations.
Smith has seen McDavid’s laid-back demeanor in practice and in games enough to know his sophomore can handle more than a typical first-year varsity player.
“In basketball, you have to quickly forget and be a quick-forgetter to be a good player, and Davontae is a quick-forgetter,” Smith said. “I have gotten on him and the next play he made the big shot.
“He did what I told him to do. I am not going to say he has ice in his veins. I don’t want to overblow it. He is just a 10th-grader, but he is a kid who is doing exactly what coach tells me to do. If a mistake is being made, it is not going to be made by me, it is going to be on coach. That is the approach I tell all of my kids to follow. If I tell you to do something and you do it and it is a total bust, hey coach, you made a mistake and I will live with it. That gives them confidence to know, ‘I got this.’ ”
McDavid said the situation was the first time he was on the free throw line in position to win a game. Armed with the knowledge his teammates had 100 percent confidence in him, McDavid said he didn’t have time to be nervous because he had a job to do.
“The thoughts that were going through my mind was I need to go out here and knock these free throws down,” McDavid said. “I didn’t really have any nerves because I practice on it and I shoot free throws just about every time I get a chance. … As far as knocking free throws down, I feel I am getting better and better at them to be able to close out games.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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