Davis Twins Putting Finishing Touches on Doubly Sensational West Bloomfield Legacy
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
January 25, 2024
Indya and Summer Davis are like most twins in that it often is hard to tell their differences.
But each definitely is her own person, especially off of the court.
Indya likes fish and lasagna, while Summer doesn’t.
Summer’s favorite color is blue, while Indya prefers pink.
Indya’s favorite music artist is Brent Faivaz, while Summer likes Kanye West.
There are also some subtle differences on the basketball court too as they proceed through their senior year at West Bloomfield.
While both are 5-foot-9, Indya spends more of her time in the paint dominating the boards and getting points in the post, while Summer is sharp shooting from the outside and helps facilitate the offense.
“I’m more on the arc than she is,” Summer Davis said. “She is more like an inside player, but she can (play the perimeter) too. With most of the positions how they are (on the team), she is more on the inside.”
However, just like they complement each other off the court, they have brilliantly done the same for the past three seasons in taking the West Bloomfield girls basketball program to new heights.
As sophomores, the duo was the centerpiece of a West Bloomfield team that won the Division 1 championship, the first in program history. The twins were better last year as juniors, but couldn’t quite help lead the Lakers to a repeat with a 40-36 loss to Rockford in the championship game at Breslin Center.
Even better and hungrier this year as seniors, the Davis twins not only form the best tandem on a team in the state, but they might end up as each other’s biggest competition for the Miss Basketball Award.
It’s certainly hard to tell them apart on the court, and that has everything to do with their games and not solely focusing on the fact they are identical twins.
The two might have different roles at the moment in West Bloomfield’s system, but if you asked them to reverse roles with Indya moving to the perimeter and Summer inside, they would likely thrive just as much.
“We’re definitely all-around players,” Indya Davis said.
West Bloomfield head coach Darrin McAllister said that has been the case since he first met the twins as middle schoolers playing in the Michigan Storm AAU program.
McAllister said the Davis twins were like sponges back then wanting to absorb as much knowledge as they could, even if McAllister wasn’t technically their coach because he was presiding over an older-aged team within the program.
“I think they were about sixth or seventh grade,” McAllister said. “After every practice, they would come up to me and say, ‘Hey can you show me this? Can you show me that?’ To be honest with you, I was tired and ready to go home, but these little kids wanted to learn. They continued to come in and bug me about little things. Some of the moves we worked on when they were in sixth and seventh grade, they’re executing right now.”
Summer Davis said she has always had basketball as her No. 1 sport, but Indya said she did dabble a bit in tennis and gymnastics when she was younger.
By the time they were 10 years old, they decided to focus solely on basketball, and the rest is history.
Following Friday’s game against Oxford, Summer leads the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game, assists at 4.9 a contest, and steals at 5.3 a game.
Indya Davis is averaging just over 15 points a game to go along with 6.6 rebounds for a West Bloomfield team that is 9-0. The stats would probably be even higher, but the Lakers haven’t played in many close games this year and the twins’ minutes have been limited. West Bloomfield also gets significant contributions from senior Kendall Hendrix, another future Division I college player who has signed with Loyola Chicago.
Once their high school careers are over, the Davis twins will continue to play together at Georgia. The twins originally committed to Michigan State, but decommitted after former head coach Suzy Merchant resigned.
While wanting to rack up stats and be 1-2 in the Miss Basketball voting, the two are also identical and aligned in their prime motivation for the rest of their final high school season.
That would be to get back on top of the state and avenge the loss to Rockford in last year’s Final.
“I think we’re more about the lesson we learned from it,” Indya Davis said. “How driven we are to come back stronger than we were. Look at where we made mistakes and what we can do better. Just come out harder than ever.”
As has been the case throughout their careers, two would be better than one when it comes to Division 1 championships for the Davis sisters and West Bloomfield.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTOS (Top) West Bloomfield’s Summer Davis (23) brings the ball up the court during last season’s Division 1 Semifinal win over Salem, with sister Indya Davis (24) leading the way. (Middle) Summer, left, and Indya Davis last week.
Flashback 100: Johnson Family Put Magical Stamp on Michigan High School Hoops
January 31, 2025
There’s no telling how many times Earvin and Evelyn Johnson faced off on the basketball court — no doubt, countless games of 1-on-1, H-O-R-S-E, and dribbling competitions. As standout players at Lansing Everett High School during the 1970s, their statistical accomplishments showed they matched up pretty well:
|
Stat |
Earvin "Magic" Johnson |
Evelyn Johnson |
|
Points Scored in a Season |
805 |
804 |
|
Career Points |
2,012 |
1,762 |
|
Career Scoring Average |
25.8 ppg |
29.9 ppg |
|
Best Team Finish |
1977 Class A Champ |
1978 Class A Semifinalist |
As you can see, basketball runs in the Johnson family.
Magic’s story is legendary. He led Everett to the Class A title in 1977, earning first-team all-state honors all three of his varsity seasons. At Michigan State, he guided the Spartans to the 1979 NCAA championship in a historic showdown against Larry Bird and Indiana State — the most-watched NCAA title game of all time. The Los Angeles Lakers selected him first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft, and in L.A. he became a five-time NBA champion, three-time league MVP and a defining figure in basketball history.
He was also a key member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" that won gold in Barcelona. Beyond basketball, Magic has built a successful business empire and is now a part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Commanders.
Watch the 1977 Class A championship here.
Evelyn, two years younger than Magic, carved out her own remarkable legacy at Everett. Her 804 points in 1978 still rank as the seventh-highest single-season total in Michigan girls basketball history. She led the Vikings to a 21-2 record and trip to the Class A Semifinals, where she scored 42 points in a loss to Detroit Mumford — a performance that remains the third-highest point total in an MHSAA Semifinal or Final.
She held Michigan’s career scoring average record (29.9 ppg) for more than two decades until Stephanie Hass of Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian surpassed Johnson in 2001.
Evelyn continued at University of South Carolina, where she tallied 1,620 career points — still among the top 15 totals in program history. Magic scored 1,059 points in two seasons at MSU.
Previous "Flashback 100" Features
Jan. 24: Future Hall of Famers Face Off First in MHSAA Class A Final - Read
Jan. 17: First-Ever WNBA Draft Pick Rocked at Salem, Won Titles at Tennessee - Read
Jan. 10: Despite Launching Before 3-Point Line, Smith Still Tops Scoring List - Read
Jan. 3: Edison's Jackson Earns Place Among State's All-Time Elite - Read
Dec. 20: Future Olympian Piper Leads Grosse Pointe North to Historic Heights - Read
Dec. 13: The Other Mr. Forsythe in Michigan School Sports - Read
Dec. 6: Coleman's Legendary Heroics Carry Harrison Through Repeat - Read
Nov. 29: Harbaugh Brothers' Football Roots Planted in Part at Pioneer - Read
Nov. 22: 8-Player Football Finals Right at Home at Superior Dome - Read
Nov. 15: Leland Career Helps Set Stage for Glass' International Stardom - Read
Nov. 8: Future Baseball Pro Led Escanaba's Legendary Football Title Run - Read
Nov. 1: Michigan High School Baseball Trio Provide World Series Voices - Read
Oct. 25: Before Leading Free World, Ford Starred for Champion GR South - Read
Oct. 18: Mercy Links Legend Becomes World Golf Hall of Famer - Read
Oct. 11: Fisher Races to Finals Stardom on Way to U.S. Olympic First - Read
Oct. 4: Lalas Leaves High School Legacies on Ice & Pitch - Read
Sept. 27: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris - Read
Sept. 20: Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6: Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Lansing Everett's Evelyn Johnson, and at right Earvin Johnson, both put up shots over defenders' outstretched arms while playing at Don Johnson Fieldhouse. (Middle) Earvin Johnson (32) takes a photo with teammates and coaches during the 1976-77 season. (Below) Evelyn Johnson, while at South Carolina. (MHSAA file photos.)