Davis finds a home with Bayside

Ryan Davis was somewhat of a mystery to his new classmates and teammates when he first walked through the halls at Bayside this fall.
They knew the Flushing resident was supposedly a player, but how good could a 5-foot-6 kid be? Weren't basketball players tall and muscular?
The basketball team immediately found out what they had in the Holy Cross transfer when he first attended practice. &#8220Right off the bat,” Bayside Coach Joe Capuana said, &#8220we knew he was one of our best players.”
Through two victories, the entire Bayside student body knows too. After scoring 21 points in a season-opening win over Springfield Gardens, Davis propelled the Commodores (2-0) to a tough 77-67 road win at William Bryant with 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds. &#8220The whole school is basically my friend now,” he said.
Jason Campbell led the Owls (1-1) with 21 points and Tomary Dailey added 15.
The southpaw originally planned on going to the Patterson School in Lenoir, North Carolina, but left after just two days there, sensing a need to get back home. When he returned to Queens, Davis scanned all his options. His former teammate at Holy Cross, Trinity Fields, transferred to Cardozo, so that was out. But the other local school, the one with his former A.A.U. Coach Craig Keys as an assistant, needed a floor general. He immediately jumped at the chance like he would rise up for a jumper.
Capuana didn't know much about Davis, but Keys informed him of the youngster's ability, and &#8220the next thing you know, he's in the building,” Capuana recalled. &#8220That's kind of like how things are today.”
Davis isn't the only upgrade on Capuana's roster. Senior guard Brandon Davis, who scored 15 points, is back after a year away at prep school (he started as a sophomore). Throw in 6-foot-3 center Darryl Brown (16 points, 10 rebounds), Julius Wells, another Holy Cross transfer, and the Commodores, a year after struggling to six division losses and a sub-par third place finish in Queens II-A, appear to be in the upper echelon of the borough's new super division, Queens AA.
&#8220We have kids on this team that have an opportunity and they're going to try to make the most of it,” Capuana said. &#8220I think we have a lot of quickness, we have a good bench, we go about 10 deep. Everybody plays hard, we're really hanging our hat on playing good defense, that's our main thing.”
After falling behind 6-0, missing their first six shots, Bayside turned it around with their defense, creating havoc for Bryant with a tenacious full court press. Then Davis took over. Amazing what a kid with a chance can do.
&#8220It feels absolutely great,” he said. &#8220I can show what I can do. I feel like it's my team.”