Keyshaun Davis hasn’t played basketball for Hampshire since he was a freshman.
The senior guard decided to put in the work and give it another try for this season, eventually carving out a nice role coming off the bench for the Whip-Purs.
In his eyes, however, the game hasn’t really changed.
“To be honest, not really,” Davis said. “It feels like I’m a freshman all over again. The crowds are a little bit bigger. That’s about it.
“Other than that, I feel like it’s the same game I always play.”
Davis’ hard work and commitment to the team paid off Wednesday night in a 50-36 Fox Valley Conference victory at Dundee-Crown.
Despite being the fourth man off the bench, he scored a game-high 15 points. He didn’t even appear in the Whip-Purs’ previous game against Cary-Grove.
“We gave him a chance this year,” Hampshire coach Mike Featherly said. “That’s one thing we talk about — not being committed. He didn’t make the team last year.
“At the end of the day, we’re not looking for perfection, just growth. His growth from a freshman to now off the court, on the court, you just root for the kid.”
Davis was prominently featured in the biggest stretch of the game for Hampshire (5-2, 2-1) as Dundee-Crown (2-4, 1-2) held a 28-25 lead late in the third quarter.
That’s when Davis went to work.
He hit a layup followed by a 3-pointer that gave the Whip-Purs the lead for good. He added another layup to end the third quarter.
Sammy Ptak hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth and Davis followed with a pair of layups. Nick Louis’ layup pushed the lead to 41-28, wrapping up a 16-0 run that turned the game around.
“I was into the game,” Davis said. “I felt it. My teammates felt it. It was good energy all the way around. It feels good.”
Featherly said the key to the run was defense. The Whip-Purs are allowing only 43.4 points a game this season.
“Our identity is defense,” Featherly said. “We’ve been getting after teams. This wasn’t any different. We didn’t come out with a lot of energy. Once we picked up the defensive effort, it took off from there.”
Dundee-Crown had a strong start to the game, taking a 17-8 lead to open the second quarter. The Chargers scored only 19 more points the rest of the game, though.
“I thought they cranked it up a notch,” Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber said. “We weren’t able to respond to their extra effort. They had another gear and they kicked into that gear and we weren’t able to crank it up one more gear.
“I guess we have to get back to the drawing board with that and see what happens.”
Kali Freeman and Kuba Senczyszyn each scored 11 points to lead the Chargers. Louis had 11 points for Hampshire.
Sometimes, teams don’t know who’s going to provide a boost on a given night. Wednesday was Davis’ chance to reward the team’s faith in giving him another chance.
“That’s all him earning minutes,” Featherly said. “He just worked hard in practice and earned the minutes. He’s a senior, but he’s new. He’s coachable. He’s trying to understand it.
“It’s fun to see a kid like that succeed.”
After a performance in which his confidence appeared to grow with every made basket, Davis is going to keep grinding to earn more opportunities.
“That’s what I’m planning on,” Davis said. “I’ll just keep doing well in practice and the minutes will be there.
“This was pretty good, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and the defensive stops we got.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
