‘Contagious’ environment has WB girls hoops aiming for return to state finals stage

WEST BLOOMFIELD — “Contagious” was the main word West Bloomfield head coach Darrin McAllister used to describe his team chemistry.

It is used in the term of a ripple effect, or in a way where the actions of one or two people can transform the environment of a whole group, and the Lakers’ locker room environment is as special as they come.

When West Bloomfield girls basketball players see senior standouts and University of Georgia commits Indya and Summer Davis in practice and the hunger with which they play the game, it’s nearly impossible for them not to carry over that same feeling for themselves.

“It’s just natural,” McAllister said. “Those kids (the Davis twins), the best way to describe them, and I don’t mean to put them on this level, but they have a Kobe Bryant mentality, meaning, ‘You’re not going to outwork me.’ It’s become contagious, because now you have Kendall Hendrix, who’s playing like that as well with the same mentality. You have Destiny Washington, who’s coming in and playing with that mentality. Our reserve players are coming in and playing with that.”

The Davis twins and Hendrix, a Loyola University Chicago commit, were McDonald’s All-American nominees this year for the top senior basketball players in the country, and they form a stout senior class alongside seniors Destiny Washington and Taylor Graves.

The Davis twins, Hendrix and Washington were all impact players as sophomores in West Bloomfield’s first state championship in school history in 2021 behind a galvanizing senior group of five leaders.

Now, it’s their turn as the new set of five seniors to make the same impact for the underclassmen.

“Me, Destiny (Washington) and the (Davis) twins talk about it all the time,” Hendrix said. “It’s funny seeing us go from freshmen all on varsity to seniors, being the last ones from when we were freshmen. We learned from the people above us, and we’re passing it down and showing them how to win.”

Junior twins Breanna and Breasia Gamble-Jones, Muskegon High School transfers; sophomore Sheridan Beal; and freshman Jordynn Ratliff are benefiting off the leadership and elevating their skill sets this season. Juniors Jaylee Head and Ava Lord have been reliable this season for the Lakers as well.

Beal has hit big shot after big shot for the Lakers, while Ratliff has grown each game in her first year.

“Both of them (Beal and Ratliff) are like sponges, so they come in and watch,” McAllister said. “They watch Destiny Washington and her work ethic. When she comes in, she’s getting the jump rope and jumping before practice. They watch the Davis twins stretching way before we start to stretch. They’re watching Kendall Hendrix talking about plays and adjustments before we even start practicing. Those are the things I’m talking about that leaders do and the characteristics that they have that become contagious to the younger players.”

In their first year at West Bloomfield, the Gamble-Jones twins are providing something the team can learn from as well.

The team is accustomed to the Davis twins and their twin magic, but seeing another pair of twins only brought the team closer together.

“The thing about it is, and this where I talk about it being contagious, other players see how the Davis twins are with each other, and they see how the Gamble twins are with each other,” McAllister said. “It becomes contagious with the rest of the team to have that same mindset and that same hunger to be close. These kids, they’re probably the closest they’ve been since I’ve been here. Not only on the court, but off the court. They’re over each other’s houses and spending the night at each other’s houses. That twin aspect, it truly becomes contagious as well.”

The bond and leadership of the Lakers currently has the team ranked No. 1 in the state, holding a 12-0 record and geared up for another state championship run.

West Bloomfield came up short of back-to-back Division 1 state titles last season when they fell 40-36 to Rockford, West Bloomfield’s lowest point total scored all of last season.

Hendrix said the team has been “irritated” by the thought of the loss, and they know they didn’t play their brand of basketball.

“We should’ve played our game on offense and played how we played all season,” Hendrix said. “If we were to redo that state championship game, I think we could’ve beat Rockford by more than 10. Sometimes you get on the big stage and have all the nerves. You have all the people in the stands and the pressure behind it, and it just feels like you’re not even yourself.”

Hendrix knows a thing or two about battling back to the top, for she suffered two torn ACLs in the beginning of her high school career.

A dynamic scorer and veteran leader at the forward position, Hendrix, with the help of her training partner and older sister Sydney Hendrix, who graduated from West Bloomfield last year and currently plays basketball at Florida A&M University, motivated herself to keep fighting.

“It was just the love for basketball and wanting to accomplish all the goals I’ve set since I was a kid,” Hendrix said.

West Bloomfield is currently first in the Oakland Activities Association-Red league with a 4-0 record after beating second-place Rochester Hills Stoney Creek 60-19 Jan. 30.

Under coach McAllister, West Bloomfield has solidified itself as a perennial powerhouse in Division 1, but the program’s culture of exceptional leadership will be something that continues to trickle down to the underclassmen.

“It’s a great environment — especially like me, who’s coming straight from eighth grade from one of the top teams in the country and in the state,” Ratliff said. “It’s really great people to be around. It’s helping me socially and with basketball.”