Former Clinton guard brings 1-0 Camanche to River City Classic

By Jon Gremmels

Herald Sports Editor

CAMANCHE — Josh Davis has many great memories of basketball games at W.J. Yourd Gymnasium. He wouldn’t mind adding to the collection this weekend.

Davis played his home high school games at Yourd as a member of the Clinton River Kings. More recently, he spent two years on the sidelines there coaching Clinton Community College.

Tonight and Saturday, he brings his Camanche boys basketball team to the gymnasium for the 24th annual River City Classic. The Indians face Prince of Peace in the opener at 6 p.m. today, followed by Clinton vs. Fulton at 7:30. Saturday’s action begins with the consolation championship at 5 p.m.

“It’s a real talented field,” Davis said. “Prince of Peace has had a lot of success. It lost only one player from last year, and coach (Gerry) Murphy is a heck of a coach.

“It’s an awfully big test for us on the first night.”

If Camanche’s season opener was any indication, the Indians are up for the test.

They opened the season Tuesday with a 69-37 win against Preston, fueling the feeling of optimism the team brought into the season. The win marked an 82-point turnaround from the result of the 2008-09 opener.

“They’ve really worked hard,” Davis said. “It’s good to see them have some success early. It’s something to show for the hard work.”

Davis won’t be surprised by continued success, though.

The Indians lost just one player from last year’s 7-15 team that finished 5-6 in the Big East Conference, which included league champion Northeast; Preston, which was ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 1A for one week; and Prince of Peace, which advanced all the way to the substate final in 1A.

“There’s definitely a culture shift going on,” Davis said, referring both to the Camanche basketball team and a football team that is trying to turn things around despite playing in what is likely the toughest Class 2A district in the state. “The kids are buying into it. I think the continuity will pay off in the future.”

The future might already be here in basketball.

“We’re definitely playing together,” Davis said. “We played a lot in the summer. We played in a lot of shootouts (at Cornell and St. Ambrose) and did a lot of ball-handling and shooting.”

The Indians also are playing with a chip on their shoulder, their coach said. He likes it that way.

“I’ve always been around underdog programs,” he said. “I was kind of an underdog in high school; I was small and had to fight tooth and nail. Here at Camanche, I’m trying to get them to buy into the underdog role and see what we can do.

“I think you always want to play with a chip on your shoulder. You’ve got to prove every night you’re worthy of wearing the Camanche jersey.”

The Indians are led by a pair of returning starters, senior guard Codie Adams and senior forward Taylor Roth. The 5-foot-8 Adams averaged 17.4 points a game last year, while Roth averaged 15 points and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds a game.

“Taylor is an outstanding player,” Davis said. “He’s a 6-foot post player who gets the most out of his size.”

But, he can play outside, too.

“He’s got one of the prettiest 3-point shots in the area,” Davis said. “We’re doing things to get him the ball on the perimeter as well as in the post.”

When it comes to outside shooting, few players around are in Adams’ league. He made 47 3-pointers in 22 games a year ago and averaged eight and one-half attempts a game.

“Codie is one of the quicker kids I’ve ever seen with the ball,” Davis said. “Before I got the job, I had started recruiting Codie a little bit at Ashford. I worked with him one-on-one. We had a relationship prior to me getting the job. I’m hard on him, and he knows it.”

In some ways, Davis wants to see Adams do less this year.

“The biggest thing for him was to be a leader and to trust his teammates,” Davis said. “He felt (in the past) he had to do more.”

Three seniors and three juniors complete Davis’ eight-man rotation — he said he didn’t have a set starting five.

“We say it’s our locker room against their locker room,” he said.

Brad Maxwell, Austin Stahl and Tony Stoll are the seniors, while the juniors are Mike Sullens, Brett Johnson and Brady Grell.

“Maxwell had eight assists and no turnovers against Preston,” Davis said. “Austin is a good shooter and good defender, and Tony is a 5-10 post but can really rebound. Mike Sullens is a tremendous athlete, Brett is a very good athlete and had six steals Tuesday, and Brady is a point guard/two guard who is a good athlete and a good defensive player.”

Davis said the contributions of those six players would go a long way toward determining the team’s success.

“Our goal each night is to get at least three guys in double figures,” Davis said. “Codie doesn’t have to score 25 for us to win.”

Davis said his coaching philosophy had developed over a long period of playing and coaching under several mentors.

Davis grew up around gymnasiums because his father, Paul, coached volleyball at Mount St. Clare and Clinton Community College and women’s basketball at Mount St. Clare.

A 1997 Clinton High graduate, Josh Davis played basketball for the River Kings under coach Randy Teymer. He then went to Cornell College in Mount Vernon and continued his career there. Upon graduation he got a teaching job at Northeast High School and remained there for several years, although he made several coaching stops during that period. First came a year as an assistant on Carl Small’s staff at Camanche, then he worked under Kevin Enwright at Northeast. Next came a three-year stint as an assistant to Andy Eberhart at Ashford before replacing longtime coach Bob Walker at Clinton Community College. He spent two years at CCC before stepping down, and last year he helped out at Ashford again. He also serves as a golf coach at Ashford.

When the basketball coaching job opened at Camanche, it appealed to him.

“I was kind of missing seeing my child grow up, and we have a strong family history in Camanche,” he said.

In addition to coaching, Davis works with at-risk students.

“I’m enjoying my duties,” he said.

A student of the game, Davis said he had been influenced by all his coaches, in addition to his father.

“From Randy Teymer, I learned how to organize practices,” Davis said. “Ed Timm (at Cornell) was a huge disciplinarian; definitely no one was better. Under Carl and Kevin, I learned a lot. Enwright was one of the most prepared people I’ve worked for. Andy Eberhart (at Ashford) is one of the classiest guys I ever worked around.”

Now, Davis is trying to have a similar influence on his players. He is eager to put his product on display at this weekend’s tournament. Nothing would please him more than to coach opposite Walker — another former Clinton High player now in his first year as coach of the River Kings — in Saturday’s championship game at Yourd.

“I would love a chance to face my former team,” he said. “I played there and coached there. It would be my first time in a road uniform and on the left side (of the scorer’s table). That gym has a special place in my heart.”

A place that would become even more special with a win or two this weekend.