Kiara Davis knows just how fortunate she is that she never has to find out what it's like to operate an offense against herself. For every second the Freedom-South Riding junior guard is on defense, she's hounding the opponent's primary ball-handler, swatting, swiping and intercepting anything she can get her hands on.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Davis said. “I wouldn’t want someone to be like that on me. But, you got to learn how to play against it.”
Dominion learned that the hard way on Friday night in Sterling. Behind Davis, who plays textbook defense with her feet first but rarely shies away from an opportunity to get her hands involved, Freedom forced nearly 40 turnovers to claim a 47-23 victory and improve to 12-1 on the season.
“She’s probably our glue that keeps everything going,” Coach Teddy Whitney said. “She’s the key that starts our car. Once she shows some intensity, everyone else followed.”
On offense, Freedom’s rotating door of capable guards started by stalking the perimeter, waitingfor the ball to swing back their way. When it did, they cashed in three first-half three-pointers to build a 20-9 lead at the break.
When Dominion (8-6) switched to a press in hopes of closing the growing deficit, the Eagles showed off their experience, carving their way down the court and finishing with layups at the other end.
Senior guard Carson Nizialek led all scorers with 10 points, nine of which came in the second half when she put her agility on display.
Nizialek, who started for Whitney for two seasons before taking her junior year off to focus on soccer, is back and ready to make the most of her senior run.
“It’s really exciting,” said Nizialek, who has committed to play soccer at Georgetown. “It’s my senior year. I really want us to all do well. It’s the last time I’m going to play basketball and I’m really glad I can do it with these people.”
The Titans were kept afloat early with seven first-half points from junior forward Lila Najmyar. They scored nine fourth-quarter points to avoid becoming the ninth team to lose to Freedom by at least 30 points. They were, however, the eighth team to score fewer than 30 points against Freedom, and the Eagles have Davis to thank for that.
"She's a major motivator," senior forward Kellie Hartless said. "She leads the team on defense, so when you see someone out there giving it their all and working their hardest to get up in everybody's face, it makes you want to work that hard too."
