Davis not active as Lisle tops Perspectives-MSA

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:56PM

The crowd started forming outside gym at Lisle Friday night, and the anticipation was palpable, almost giddy.

It helped the game going on ended up a double overtime thriller.

But the moment the larger than expected crowd saw the man of the moment, Anthony Davis, not wearing his uniform, the buzz melted.

The amazing story of Davis' national ascension, from an unknown to his current status as the No. 1 high school player in the Class of 2011, has drawn unusual interest to the program.

The 6-11 Kentucky recruit lived up to the hype, personally, averaging 39 points and 20 rebounds in the first two games of the year.

Against the host team at the Lisle Thanksgiving tournament, Davis had no impact on the game. He sat out for cautionary reasons after suffering minor forearm and leg injuries playing in Washington, Ill. Wednesday night.

"It's a long season, and we saw no reason to really push anything at this point," first-year Perspectives-MSA coach Cortez Hale said.

Without Davis, the Panthers lost their third straight game. Behind the play of forward Chris Wray, who scored a game-high 17 points, the Lions dispatched Perspectives-MSA 56-42 in the second game.

With Davis out of action, most of the crowd left by halftime.

Wray scored 10 points in the first quarter, punctuating his play with a three-pointer that put the Lions up 19-7 after one.

Perspectives-MSA (0-3) fought back in the second quarter behind junior guard Marcus Dixon (11 points). Dixon scored six straight during a 9-2 run that closed the margin to 28-23 at the break.

With balanced scoring from Kyle Frazier and Phil Palicka, who both finished with 10 points and junior guard Cam Bell (eight points), the Lions (1-1) pulled away at the start of the third quarter with a 15-4 opening burst.

Junior center Tavares Laramore had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers.

"We're in the spotlight now, with Anthony, and we have a lot of young guys and it's a big adjustment for them to go from a Blue conference to this," Hale said. "Some are making the adjustment quicker than others, but we're still focused and confident that we're going to have a good season."

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