Daequan Davis battles through grief to help North Lawndale beat Orr

North Lawndale junior Daequan Davis stepped up and won a crucial Red-North/West conference game for his team Wednesday. He scored five points in the final few minutes, including the go-ahead free throw in the Phoenix’s 56-53 win against visiting Orr.

It put a smile on his face briefly, but then he was back to discussing the terrible tragedy his family is struggling through. Davis’ 10-year old sister, Kayla, was shot and killed in a carjacking Friday.

“My teammates have helped hold me together,” Davis said. “I’ve been able to block it out while I’m playing basketball; that has helped. I just have to keep fighting and be tough. As long as I have my brothers with me, I’m cool.”

Davis had 19 points and seven rebounds.

“His sister was just murdered in a carjacking, and he comes back and plays like this,” North Lawndale coach Carlos Toliver said. “I take my hat off to that kid.”

Larry Johnson (14 rebounds) and Javantae Brackens (12 rebounds) helped the Phoenix dominate on the boards.

“We just kept telling [Davis] to stay focused and try to get it out of his head,” Johnson said. “It was a battle. This win was very important. They tried to disrespect us and everything.”

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Daevon Rogers scored 16 for North Lawndale (12-5, 6-1). Jamar Wilkins added eight.

Demarius Splunge led Orr (10-6, 4-2) with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Bryce Hall added 14 points.

Tensions were high after the game. Toliver held his team on the court and let Orr head to the locker room.

At some point, a player from Orr’s sophomore team was attacked by a group of people outside the high school. North Lawndale has two campuses, one in the North Lawndale neighborhood and one in Douglas Park that it shares with Collins. The game was played at Collins.

According to a witness, several people jumped out of a car in front of Collins and attacked the Orr basketball player.

“He got beat up pretty bad,” Orr coach Lou Adams said. “I don’t know where it happened. He’s bleeding, they roughed him up pretty good. It’s unbelievable, it’s bad. Not good for the game of basketball.”

Another brawl happened about 10 minutes after the game, right outside the school. As one police officer went running toward the melee, he asked “where the million-dollar check was,” apparently wondering why the intensity was so high around a high school basketball game.

Orr waited in the building for a while before North Lawndale security escorted the team to its bus.

North Lawndale has security at games, there’s a metal detector at the door and the school administrators are present and diligently doing their best. But the police presence at West Side basketball games has diminished significantly in the last decade.

In the past, a high-profile, high-tension game like Orr-North Lawndale would have meant a dozen or more police officers in the gym. There were just four Wednesday.

“The kids know when there isn’t enough security,” one assistant coach said as he helped Orr safely exit the building.