Champions, plus one

 He has never been gone from them, even though he’s gone from them. That's the first thing you should understand.

One of his sons is the point guard. The coach is the assistant he taught, mentored, inspired with his example. The gym floor back home in Fort Wayne has his name on it.

And so -- after falling down an 11-point well at halftime yesterday; after clawing their way back against a team no Indiana school had beaten this season; after Kellen Pickett and Gage Sefton and, yes, Jimmy Davidson, had taken Blackhawk Christian to a third state title in five years -- someone lifted a camera and made a picture.

In it, the 2A state championship trophy is lying on the floor in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The game ball, or at least a ball, lies next to it.

The Blackhawk Christian Braves form a circle around these totems, heads bowed, arms around one another. And you know who they're remembering in their prayers.

Marc Davidson is never gone from them. Remember?

He died last May from cancer, but that didn't mean cancer won. Indeed, Davidson coached almost until the end, even when he was so sick he could barely stand. Along the way, he taught those boys and that coach standing in a circle yesterday not only how to live a life, but how to face its end with dignity and courage and a particular grace.

He taught them basketball. And then, at the end, he taught them so much more.

"His fingerprints are everywhere," said Matt Roth, Davidson's protege and successor, on the Gainbridge PA after Blackhawk Christian 52, Linton-Stockton 45.

They were certainly all over this game. All those road nights Davidson somehow made it to the bench after spending the bus ride lying on the floor between the seats because he was so spent? All the nights when he sat in the locker room feeling so sick he didn't think he could get up, but somehow got up and walked out onto the floor and coached his team?

Eleven points back with 16 minutes to play against the No. 1 2A team in the state was nothing, compared to that. It was nothing.

And so Pickett, the gifted sophomore, went for 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a steal. Sefton added 16 points and eight boards. Davidson did his part with nine points, seven rebounds, two assists; Aiden Muldoon came off the bench to stick a big corner three with four minutes left and the Braves leading by one.

Finally, Josh Furst, the team's leading scorer, flushed a dunk to put an exclamation point on it as the clock ran dry. They were his only two points, but you think he cared?

Nope. He was a champion, just like they were all champions.

Well. Champions, plus one.