Savannah Davis remembers the third game of her junior season vividly.
McKenzie was playing against Huntingdon at home — the Rebels had just knocked off Greenfield and USJ in the first two games of the season to open their defense of the TSSAA Class 1A championship.
Davis went to box out an opponent, she swung her arm out and hit the player’s back. Davis’ middle finger on her right hand jammed hard and sent pain all the way to her forearm.
The Middle Tennessee State women's basketball signee knew that instant her hand was broken.
“I hit her back and it just snapped,” said Davis, laughing about it now. “I knew it was broken.”
Andrea Davis — Savannah’s mom — didn’t think much of her daughter’s injury. Andrea also had been a basketball player at McKenzie and went on to play at Freed-Hardeman.
“I thought it was just a bad jam,” Andrea said.
But Andrea found the full scope of the injury when trainers called her down to the floor.
After the injury, Savannah was told she wasn’t going to be able to play. But she still felt she needed to be on the basketball court in some fashion. So her parents let her work with her left hand. She wore a brace which protected her right hand. But she couldn't play in games.
“Initially, she was devastated,” Andrea said of her daughter. “We just tried to keep her involved, she wanted to go shoot left-handed and work on left-handed moves. We went with her and encouraged her to do that. It was so hard to see her because you could tell she just wanted to be out there so bad.”
Four days after the injury, Savannah was in surgery to have a metal plate and two screws put in her hand.
Savannah wore a molded cast for a week, then had her arm in the brace again after the cast was removed. She still has a scar on her right hand where the screws and plate were put in.
Savannah was cleared to play for the Rebels' TSSAA playoff run, which ended in a second straight Class 1A state championship. Savannah said at firs, shooting a basketball was strange with the hardware in her shooting hand, but she’s gotten used to it.
Davis won the Class 1A Miss Basketball award in 2022 while leading McKenzie to the state championship. She would have had a case to win the award again last season had she been healthy all season. However, she did earn TSWA All-State honors.
This season, the Rebels struggled in the beginning of the season. They closed out December, losing four of five games. Davis broke a TSSAA record with 17 3-pointers and 60 points in a win over Milan on Dec. 19 during that span.
Since the 2024 calendar, the Rebels (14-5, 5-1 District 12-1A) have lost just one game. After Tuesday’s 62-30 rout of Milan, the Rebels have won nine straight.
“We definitely have room to improve,” Savannah said. “If you would’ve asked me that in August or September, I would’ve had a completely different answer. We’ve grown so much as a team, just learning our roles — learning what we can do and can’t do and it’s really helped so much.”
McKenzie coach John Wilkins has enjoyed the bountiful success the Rebels girls team has experienced in recent years, driven by Davis and fellow senior Mikaela Reynolds. Seeing what success looks like is a big benefit for his program.
"It gives not only our kids but other kids in small schools around the area the ability to dream a bit," he said. "(Davis) has accomplished a lot. ... It's great for her, she's very humble and gives a lot of hope for the junior high kids coming up that they realize if you work, certain things can be accomplished. It's definitely good for our program."
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