Dominant frontcourt, led by Clemson recruit, makes Davidson Day title contender
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- Davidson Day built a dominant frontcourt via transfers to target a state title.
- Will Stevens, a 6-11 Clemson recruit, anchors rebounding and rim protection.
- Coach Ricky Hickman leverages practice competition to prepare players for D-I.
Since transferring to Davidson Day for his sophomore year, Will Stevens has gone from coming off the bench to being a starter for the Patriots.
And along the way, Stevens been part of an NCISAA state championship-winning team, as well as earning All-State honors himself last season.
“It’s been pretty good moving up every year,” Stevens said Saturday night before Davidson Day’s game against Arden’s Christ School in the Phenom Hoops Classic. “Starting off from being a role player, doing whatever I can to win, and slowly progressing every year, getting better and better and becoming more of a leader.”
Now, Stevens and his Davidson Day teammates would like nothing better than to hang another state title banner at Yates Gymnasium — and he’ll have some help from his “big brothers.”
Stevens, a 6-foot-11, 225-pound forward-center, has been joined on the Patriots’ roster this season by Charlotte native Cody Peck, a 6-11 senior who transferred to Davidson Day from the IMG Academy in Florida; and sophomore Xavier Hall, a 6-10 sophomore transfer from Roseboro’s Lakewood High School in eastern North Carolina.
That gives second-year Patriots head coach Ricky Hickman a starting back line that is drawing notice from major colleges — and making Davidson Day a legitimate contender for its third NCISAA state title.
“I thought we were going to be very good defensively,” said Hickman, who was a Patriots assistant before becoming head coach last season. “They are all really good shot blockers, and that would make us super competitive.
“I also thought the practices would be good as well. It would be a really good opportunity for Will to practice against those guys, and prepare him for what’s to come.”
However, Saturday wasn’t a good night for Stevens or 2A Davidson Day, which never led in its first loss of the season, 69-62, to 4A Christ School (4-0).
Stevens scored just seven points — all off free throws — to go with eight rebounds and a block for the Patriots (2-1). Peck finished with 15 points and six rebounds, while Hall had 14 points and eight boards. That wasn’t enough to overcome a 31-point night from Christ School’s Dacen Petty.
Stevens — considered a top-20 center prospect nationally by 247Sports.com — committed to Clemson earlier this month, picking the Tigers over offers from nearly two dozen other schools; while Peck is ranked among the top 80 recruits nationally by ESPN, and is drawing interest from Division I programs.
So to say that Davidson Day’s practices — especially among its big men — have been competitive might be a bit of an understatement.
“They get the best of each other,” Hickman said. “There’s times at practice where you look at them and think, ‘Man, that’s a high-level move there,’ or something like that. They’re all making some really elite moves out there.
“I can say this about all three of them — they’re getting pushed. Each of them are competing every day against each other. It’s really, really fun to watch them in practices.”
Said Stevens: “It’s been competitive, it’s been physical. It’s been really, really good just being able to go against them. They’re really, really strong, and it’s been good for all of us to get used to what things are going to be like at the next level.”
As for what this team can achieve this season, Stevens thinks that the pieces are coming together to help the Patriots add another NCISAA state title banner to the rafters at Yates Gymnasium to go with the ones won in 2020 and 2024.
“We all really complement each other,” he said of Peck and Hall. “(Hall) is definitely more of a bruiser than I am, he’s playing bully ball around the basket, while I’m more of a finesse guy. And Cody is very, very athletic; he can put the ball on the floor. We just all complement each other.
“It definitely feels good having a lot of other good players around me. … Knowing that the other two bigs are really skilled, and that I can compete against then, makes me feel like we can make a really big run this year.”
Saturday’s boys’ box scores
CHARLOTTE CHRISTIAN 92 , ARBORBROOK CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 54
Charlotte Christian 26 17 37 12 — 92
Arborbrook Christian Academy 10 24 13 7 — 54
CHARLOTTE CHRISTIAN 92 — Matty Carroll 23, Adam Miller 21, Marshall Nicholson 13, Carter Burns 10 Austin Bradway 7, Zach Violette 7, Saul Lieberman 7, Mac Catanese 3, Dax Gill 1
ARBORBROOK CHRISTIAN 54 — E. Briles 18, E. Jones 17, K. Collins 8, M. Alfredson 6, M. Simmons 4, T. Hall 2
Notable: Charlotte Christian’s Matty Carroll made five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points and six assists for Charlotte Christian.
Records: Charlotte Christian 1-0; Arborbrook Christian Academy 1-1
CHRIST SCHOOL 69, DAVIDSON DAY 62
DAVIDSON DAY 62 — Xavier Hall 14, Justyn whitfield 16, McCormick 5, Whiteside 6, Cody Peck 15, Stevens 7
CHRIST SCHOOL 69 — Kingston Whitty 16, Jones 8, Dacen Petty 28, Goodlow 2, Booker 1, Ellis 7, Robinson 2
Notable: Christ School’s Dacen Petty had 28 points, five rebounds for the reigning private school 4A champs. Cody Peck had 15 points, eight rebounds for Davidson Day.
CONCORD ACADEMY 64, WINSTON-SALEM CHRISTIAN 30
CONCORD ACADEMY 64 — Cruz Miller 11, Agyeman 4, Lincoln Raper 20, Pierce 3, Boyer 4, Ndiaye 3, James Minlend 11, Vidakovic 8
WINSTON-SALEM CHRISTIAN 30 — Thomas 9, Vallet 3, Garang Garang 12, Adeyemi 1, Leek 2, Ivanovic 3
Notable: Romain Boyer (four points, six rebounds, five steals, four assists) and Lincoln Raper (20 ponts, three rebounds) had big games for Concord Academy.
FORSYTH COUNTRY DAY 76, CHAMBERS 59
CHAMBERS 59 — QJ Young 14, Grier 3, Zyon White 18, Gill 6, Cameron Thompson 12, Morrow 6
FORSYTH COUNTRY DAY 76 — Chris Gomez 11, Adams 6, Jayon Connor 18, Q Williams 12, Greene 3, Dalton 8, Van Weerdhuizen 9, Nwokemodo 8
Notable: Jayon Connor had 18 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and four steals for Forsyth. Chambers got 18 points and three rebounds from Zyon White.
GASTON CHRISTIAN 55, PROVIDENCE DAY 48
PROVIDENCE DAY 48 — Battier 7, Haynes 5, Aidan Scruitsky 11, Columbus Parker 16, Bradley 6, Stokes 2, Williams 1
GASTON CHRISTIAN 55 — Makoi 4, Luparia 2, Cam Newman 17, Jeremy Duhon 11, Woods 2, Millner 2, Makoi 8, Joy 3, Southern 6
Notable: Cam Newman led Gaston Christian with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Providence Day got 16 points, four rebounds and two assists from Columbus Parker.
HOPEWELL 74, MALLARD CREEK 70
HOPEWELL 74 — Curry 7, Jones 3, Tre Gatlin 13, Wite 4, Kyle Broughton 17, MJ McKinney 17, Teasley 5
MALLARD CREEK 70 — Aiden Roberson 11, Bengue 2, Tucker 7, Ahmad Savage 20, Elijah Shonganie 11, McKissick 3, Kingston Cardwell 11, Maots 2, Clark 3
Notable: Ahmad Savage (20 points) helped Mallard Creek rally from 20 points down to force overtime, but Hopewell won, led by Kyle Broughton (17 points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals) and MJ McKinney (17 points, four assists, two steals).
Friday’s late girls’ box score
CUTHBERTSON 67, FREEDOM 52
Freedom 8 8 15 21 — 52
Cuthbertson 19 22 13 13 — 67
FREEDOM 52 — Cynica Caldwell 14, Kaitlyn Hagmann 12, Alayhia Bates 12, Cooke 7, Queen 5, Wright 2
CUTHBERTSON 67 — Christian Johnson 22, Amayah Rogers 21, Christian Mundy 11, Coffey 3, Beals 6, Kollmann 4
Friday’s late boys’ box score
NORTH GASTON 60, EAST GASTON 31
North Gaston 18 11 12 19 — 60
East Gaston 3 10 12 6 — 31 NORTH GASTON 60 — Carter Mason 15, Tavi Medlin 13, Jalen Howard 12
EAST GASTON 31 — KJ Smith 12 Records: North Gaston 1-0; East Gaston 0-1
