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They found themselves in that strange situation in their District 32 match-up against the Flint Central Phoenix on Monday night. The Cardinals were able to show they were for real with their 46-30 victory.

The Cardinals entered the first quarter against the favored Phoenix employing a tough zone defense that was able to keep Central's inside game shelved.

Davison pushed the tempo of the game right from the start and was able to capitalize on their superior size to jump out to a early 8-4 lead. Post Kaylee Rahmann scored five of her team-high 15 in the quarter to help spark the Cardinals.

"We actually planned to keep the tempo high," Davison coach Erika Ford said. "We knew we had to keep the ball out of #24's hands (Tiffina' Bennett). She is an outstanding player.

"We also knew we had to try and get them tired, because we thought that it would work toward our benefit."

In the second, it was more of the same as Davison continued to push the tempo and dump the ball inside, this time to their other post player, Lauren Bellamy. She also had 15 points for the night and was a force on the boards in the game.

The Cardinals took a 19-13 lead over the Phoenix into the locker rooms.

"She is our MVP this year for sure," Ford said of Bellamy. "She is just outstanding. She is pretty much our strength inside.

"We've worked all season long to get her into the right specific spots inside the paint."

In the third, the tempo of the game slowed down somewhat as both teams were playing a little more physical and more fouls were called.

The scoring slowed down as well as both team's defenses reacted to the scoring by dropping off into zones and shot from the perimeter more.

The Cardinals were still able to work the ball inside, though, thanks to the skills of senior Chloe Metcalf, who had a fantastic game distributing the ball to teammates while adding 10 points of her own.

"Chloe was our shining star this game," Ford said. "She knew she had a lot riding on her shoulders and she pulled through.

"She has the heart of a lion."

The fourth quarter was where Metcalf took over and showed her young team how to win.

She hit Bellamy with a great inlet pass for an easy basket, helped to steal a ball at the other end and took it all the way for a layup. All this while being the shortest player on the court.

Davison not only was able to put the game away in the fourth, but showed how dominant the game really was as they held the Phoenix to just 4 points in the first seven minutes of the final quarter of play.

Davison will continue their improbable run in the playoffs as they next will face Kearsley this Wednesday night at 7:30. The winner of that game will face the winner of the 6:00 game between Flint Northern and Flint Carman-Ainsworth.