| By Gaylen Duskey, Sports Editor
At times one has to wonder what kind of language Tim Davis is speaking.
"I think we'll see a lot of box-and-one and probably some triangle-and-two,"
the Calhoun County High School basketball coach said, "but I don't know if
we'll see much man-to-man."
His strange talk is about defenses opposing teams may use against his Red
Devils and the talk is caused by his son - Marcus, a two-time all-state
player.
"I think they'll come up with a lot of different things to try on him,"
Davis said, "and that makes it hard to practice some time since we never
know what they may do."
To break it down into layman's terms a "box-and-one" is basically a zone
defense with one guy assigned to chase Marcus Davis all around the floor.
A
"triangle-and-two" is where the other team uses two players to chase the
younger Davis around the floor.
The "triangle-and-two" is a bit of
desperation defense that means the younger Davis is having an excellent game
and the opposing team is willing to gamble that the one player left
uncovered (by putting two on Davis) won't be able to score.
Marcus Davis does that to the opposition.
He's been very good for a long while now - he was first team all-state as a
sophomore and junior and has already signed to play basketball at Glenville
State College next year.
His dominance has forced other teams to do unusual things to stop him.
Tonight's opponent - Roane County, 7:30 p.m. at Calhoun High School - tried
those defenses on him in the season-opening game last year and he merely
stepped further away from the basket and buried some three-point shots,
including two from behind the mid-court stripe.
In the Red Devils' last scrimmage game - a 70-64 win over Paden City - Davis
scored 37 points including nine three-point shots, including five in a row
at one time. He did this while fighting a sore leg (from football) and the
flu.
In that game Jake Perkins added 20 points and 11 rebounds.
But his father, Tim, is the first to point out that Calhoun is not a one-man
gang.
"We have very good teamwork," Davis said. "And, the kids know that Marcus
has to take his shots. I'd like to see him shoot the ball 25-30 times a
game.
"But I also want the other kids taking their shots right now. We have some
guys who can put the ball in the hoop too."
One of those is Perkins, a 6-3 junior forward. Davis is very high on him.
Another is 6-3 junior Tristan Harris. They join Davis in the starting lineup
as does Zach Houchin and either Derek Roberts or Mike Batten.
"We have to have someone step up and we know they can do it."
The younger Davis comes into the season with 1318 career points. He is less
than 500 behind the school scoring record of 1807, a record that is held by
his dad.
How would the elder Davis feel about his son breaking his mark?
"I hope he does. That would probably mean we had a pretty good season,"
Davis said.
Yesterday, Roane beat Matewan 59-30.
The Roster:
Seniors: Marcus Davis 6-3; Ryan 'Goob' Fitzwater 5-10; Zach Houchin 6-1;
Shawn Hillegas 5-2; Derek Roberts 5-7.
Juniors: Jake Perkins 6-3; Tristan Harris 6-3; Mike Batten 5-11.
Sophomores: Chad Conley 6-0; Tom Gerwig 5-11; Steve Cunningham 6-0; Tyler
Shartiger 5-11; Lewis Smith 5-7; Lucas Morford 5-8; Victor Carpenter.
The Schedule:
December: 17 Roane; 20 Braxton; 22 at Doddridge.
January 2-3 at Clarksburg Notre Dame Holiday Tournament (versus Charleston
Catholic in the first game); 7 at Wirt; 9 at Roane; 16 Gilmer; 21 Clay; 23
at Braxton; 26 Webster; 30 at Gilmer.
February: 3 at Clay; 6 at Herbert Hoover; 9 Doddridge; 11 at Webster; 13
Wirt; 17 at Wahama; 19 LKC Game; 21 LKC Night of Champions (Parkersburg); 24
Herbert Hoover; 26 Richwood; 28 Wahama. | 
