Coolidge girls' basketball wins DCIAA title with a perfect league record
Derrick Davis didn't see the cooler coming.
After he had hugged his players on their home floor, after he had lifted the trophy and thrown his arms up in the air, finally able to exhale and celebrate, Davis walked down the hall toward the locker room. The curtain at its entrance was closed.
When he brushed his way through, his players were waiting for him, ready with water bottles and coolers, waiting to greet their coach with a celebratory dousing.
And after his blue Powerade bath, Davis's first words to his players were simple: 'Thank you.'
Coolidge had been on the precipice of this milestone several times under Davis. But on Thursday, with a 54-46 win over Eastern, the Colts earned the program's first D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association championship since 1994.
'This is the best moment in my life,' Davis said. 'There's nothing else like it. There's nothing like having a perfect season.'
Dunbar had won the league's five previous girls' basketball titles. But this season introduced arguably Coolidge's best team in program history and the full arrival of Eastern, a team that went winless just two years ago.
No one in the DCIAA pushed Coolige as much as Eastern (22-7), but no one was able to unseat the No. 16 Colts. Coolidge completed a perfect 18-0 run against DCIAA opponents. The Colts (26-3) had an undefeated record against all area public schools, too.
To Davis, the starting point of this rise to the top is simple. It wouldn't be possible without the Derricott sisters.
Senior Jaylyn Derricot and junior Josslyn Derricot both received all-league honors. Several coaches described Josslyn as a snub for DCIAA player of the year. Josslyn led Coolidge all season, averaging 17.9 points and 11.3 rebounds. On Thursday, she led her team with 13 points against Eastern. But when Coolidge needed someone else to step up, Jaylyn came through, hitting four three-pointers in the win.
'It's a special feeling cause we built this since her freshman year,' Jaylyn Derricott said. 'It's a special night. Special win. We recently lost Coach Dailey. So I made it my mission to go get it for him.'
Jaylyn Derricott wore a shirt printed with the face of Darnell Dailey, Coolidge's football coach who died in November. Dailey was among the most vocal Coolidge girls' basketball fans in the building.
'Coach Dailey was our biggest supporter, our biggest fan,' Davis said. 'He always believed in us. I'm just a little sad that he's not here to share this. This is just as much his as ours.'
To Davis, the celebration was also emotional. He didn't get to hug Dailey, and he didn't get to talk to his father, Derrick Davis Sr., who died in May.
Several weeks before playing for the championship, Davis said the best way he could honor his father would be with a trophy. He remembered conversations they had as his father's health faded in recent years. His dad couldn't remember their conversations, Davis said, but he never forgot the buzzer-beater he hit to win the D.C. championship as a player for Coolidge in 1986.
Father and son are now both city champions. Davis said he knew his dad was certainly with him Thursday night to celebrate.
'My dad watching over me,' Davis said. 'That's for my dad.'
Davis' first words to his players in a locker room speech were 'thank you" and his last were a reference to Dailey's catchphrase: 'We don't lose.'
In the DCIAA this winter, Coolidge didn't lose. So no one had to wonder what Dailey would have said if he could have seen this.
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