Central's Nina Davis chosen Class AAA Miss Basketball

Nina Davis found herself double-teamed one last time Saturday at the Murphy Center. But as she has for much of her Central career, Davis came out ahead.

The 6-1 Davis, who is headed to Baylor next season, was named AAA Miss Basketball, becoming the first Shelby-Metro player since Lakendra Phillips of Ridgeway in 2006 to capture the AAA award.
She beat out the Murfreesboro Riverdale duo of Olivia Jones and Alexa Middleton. Riverdale ended Central’s season with an 85-64 victory in Friday’s semifinals and captured its second straight state title — and 58th consecutive victory — by defeating Johnson City Science Hill 79-68 before Saturday’s awards.

“Honestly, when they called my name I just froze,” she said. “Last year I was nominated and it was a little iffy, but I thought I had a good chance this year. It just feels great knowing that all my hard work for the last four years has paid off.

“I knew the middle Tennessee girls had a lot of support, but I’m just happy to bring (the award) back to Memphis.”

A starter since arriving at Central four years ago, Davis averaged 28.2 points and 11.4 rebounds per game as a senior, shooting 56.2 percent from the floor and 52.2 percent from 3-point range. She’s a two-time Best of the Preps player of the year and was named Most Valuable Player of the state tournament in 2011 when Central won the championship.

She ends her high school career with well over 2,000 points and almost 1,000 rebounds.
“Nina’s the best player ever at Central and I think one of the top five all-time in Shelby County,” Central coach Niki Bray said Friday. “You talk about Nikki McCray and Ashley Shields ... she’s right up there.”


McCray, who won the award while playing for Collierville in 1990, and Shields, who won with Melrose in 2003, are the only other Shelby-Metro players to be named Miss Basketball in Class AAA.

Davis said her plans now include plenty of rest and relaxation.

“I plan to take two or three weeks off and then get back in the gym and get ready for Baylor,” she said. “This year was very tough for me (mentally) knowing that I would have to go out and score 25 (every game). But I think I was up to the challenge.”