Eighth-grader helps Patriots off to strong start

Maya Caldwell isn’t even in high school, but the Davidson Day eighth-grader has helped lead the Patriots’ girls’ basketball team to its best start in school history.

The 14-year-old has averaged nearly 18 points and 11 rebounds per game, playing everything from point guard to center in the process.

After a 4-1 start to the , the 5-foot-11 Caldwell and the Patriots already accumulated more wins than last year’s squad.

“It can be hard to have the youngest player on your team be your best player,” said Davidson Day coach Danielle Webb-Johnson, who shares coaching duties with Zakia Vanhoose. “But she not only can handle the pressure, but she is also a great team player. She can do it all on the court, and she looks to get her teammates involved. That is a big key to our success.”

Caldwell helped Davidson Day’s middle school team to a one-loss season last winter and wasted no time making a name for herself on the varsity level. The N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association allows seventh- and eighth-graders to play at the varsity and junior varsity levels.

She scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a season-opening win over Northside Christian.

In only her third varsity contest, Caldwell showed what she is capable of, going 15-of-27 from the field to score 30 points, adding 12 rebounds against Grace Christian.

“I definitely think Maya is going to be a top Division I recruit at some point in time,” Webb-Johnson said. “You can see it in her eyes when she has the ball; she just wants it. But she also has a lot to learn because she’s still very young. But to think that we have her for five more years is pretty exciting.”

Webb-Johnson and Vanhoose hope to provide stability at Davidson Day, where the program has had different head coaches the past three seasons.

In that span, Davidson Day’s girls’ team combined for only 11 wins.

Webb-Johnson and Vanhoose – who played college basketball at N.C. Central and have been coaching together for the last decade, most recently at Durham’s Duke School – hope to use their basketball knowledge to get the Patriots in the right direction.

“The Davidson Day women’s basketball program has never really gotten a chance to develop or establish itself,” Webb-Johnson said. “We want to come in and not only give them some stability, but hold them to a higher standard. We feel like we are already doing that and already seeing some success.”

Caldwell is a big key to Davidson Day’s success, but she’s hardly doing it alone. Webb-Johnson said that seniors Nataya Ford, Kay Funderburk, Kayla Hallman and Caitlyn Rodrigues have been instrumental too.

Freshman point guard Alexas Bradford and classmate Kristen Easterling have also contributed to the Patriots’ early success.

“We feel like we have a lot of good players,” Webb-Johnson said. “But the four seniors have been a huge key for us in terms of leadership. They came in and accepted us and what we wanted to do, and everybody else just sort of fell in line.”

Caldwell said her teammates also accepted her.

“I don’t really feel I’m the youngest player on the team or the only eighth-grader, I just feel like one of the girls,” Caldwell said. “Our whole team just feels like my sisters and family.”

While Caldwell is settling in with her Davidson Day family, she has learned a lot from her family at home.

Caldwell dreams of following in her mother’s footsteps and playing college basketball. Patricia Caldwell played for the Charlotte 49ers.

That helps the younger Caldwell stay hungry to get better.

“Basketball really helps me because it teaches you about dealing with life,” she said. “You’re not always going to play your best game, but you have to stay focused on your goals.”