Uncommon duo
Anthony, Dayberry lead Pea Ridge turnaround
Lady Blackhawks Jennifer Anthony and Avery Dayberry don’t have much in common.
Still, the seniors are the 1-2 shooting punch that has helped Pea Ridge already double its number of wins (10) from a year ago (5) and surpass the win total (9) from the past two seasons combined.
At 5-foot-9-inches, Dayberry is the taller of the two players.
Anthony is listed at 5’4”, but said she’s “more like 5’3” or 5’3” and half.”
Dayberry, who plays small forward, wears long leg sleeves to protect her knees.
Anthony, who plays point guard, has multiple bruises in various stages of healing on both knees from constantly diving on the floor for loose balls.
Their futures are even going in opposite directions.
Dayberry plans to head south to Arkansas-Fort Smith to pursue a career as a radiologist.
Anthony will head north to Ottawa (Kan.) University on a basketball scholarship and has always dreamed of playing in the WNBA.
Still, on the court, they’re in perfect sync. They’ve been playing together since grade school and can simply make eye contact to relay a mental message to the other.
And the opposites have attracted most of the attention of opponents with a shooting spree that began with a wild idea from first-year coach Heath Neal during one of his first team meetings.
He named it the “10,000-shot club.”
“We all thought he was crazy when he said ‘10,000 shots.’ We all kind of lost it for a second,” Dayberry recalled. “It was dif- ferent. It was definitely hard because we were used to different things, but I think we’ve all tried and put in a lot of effort to make it workout well.”
Dayberry put up nearly 12,000 shots, while Anthony attempted “about 12,500” despite being slowed by a knee injury before the final deadline.
“I had a bigger goal set,” Anthony said. “I was out for several weeks, but I eventually worked myself back up to get back into the game.”
Attempting as many as “5001,000 shots per day” has helped Dayberry become one of the more dangerous perimeter threats in 3A/4A District 1.
“I’ve shot well in games in the past, but not as often as this year,” Dayberry said. “I’ve gotten a lot more consistent. It’s made me a little more confident in myself.”
Because Anthony is a first-to-arrive, last-to-leave-practice type of player, Neal has to pull back on her reins at times.
“We have to slow her down,” Neal said. “She’s so talented and so skilled, but it’s almost like we have to put handcuffs on her to keep her under control because when she plays under control, she’s so much more dangerous.”
Both have different nutrition
needs, too. Dayberry has been a Type-1 diabetic since she was eight and, thus, has learned what her body needs to survive and thrive. Anthony is one of several players Neal has “encouraged” to eat and drink better. Otherwise, her non-stop engine can grind to a halt.
“She works so hard that it leaves her system as fast as she puts it in,” Neal said. “We say we want to feed the machine and if she doesn’t feed the machine the right way, that body is going to fail on her, so teaching her that is a work in progress.”
Both are teachers themselves.
Anthony is among the youth group leaders at The Ridge Community Church and helps guide 6- and 7-year-olds as part of an “Impact for Girls” program.
Dayberry works parttime corralling first and second graders as part of the “gym staff” at the new Pea Ridge branch of the Benton County Boys & Girls Club.
“They’re something else,” Neal said. “They’re both great kids, a joy to be around and very special — in their own different, but special ways.”