The Davis girls were rolling, unbeaten against in-state teams and their only blemishes suffered playing the nation’s best in a Portland holiday tournament.

It seemed as if nothing could slow the Pirates entering the regional weekend of the Class 4A state basketball tournament.

Then along came Sumner.

The eighth-seeded Spartans, the team Davis had beaten for third place in the Tacoma Dome the year before, took the air out of Pirate Ship.

Well, what air was left after a good chunk of the crowd let the officials know they’re opinion of the whistles that sidelined super soph Cheyenne Hull in the closing minutes of the 67-62 upset.

Stunned, the Pirates had to regroup and do it quickly.

There were just four days till they had to open play in Tacoma, and now faced a four-game path to the championship because of the loss to Sumner.

“It definitely us a big motivation and pushed us a lot,” Hull said.

Davis then did the pushing, winning their first three games by an average of nearly 28 points.

Awaiting? Those pesky Spartans who had spoiled things the week before.

This time, though, there was no upset, and no fouling out for Hull, who poured in 26 points, canning all five 3-pointers she shot, to lead the Pirates to a 61-45 victory and nabbing her tourney MVP.

“It refocused them and they wanted to get back to Saturday – and they were hoping it was Sumner,” Davis coach Akil White said.

The Pirates began this season having been ranked No. 1 by VarsityWA, and opened with a win against Kamiakin with Hull’s layup in the early seconds giving her 1,000 points for her career.

They open conference play Friday night against crosstown Eisenhower looking for their 27th straight CBBN regular-season win.

Davis is locked in, knowing it is the target for other teams.

“I think everybody is after us this year,” Averie Brandt said. “We’ll get everyone’s best shot.”

Hull and Brandt, along with Isa Garcia and Kobe Johnson make up a good chunk of a junior class that fuels the Pirates.

Eastern Washington University signee Deets Parrish and Ella Craig are the only seniors on the team.

Hull led the way in scoring at nearly 22 points per game last season, while Garcia (16.6 ppg), Parrish (13.3) and Brandt (10.4) also averaged in double figures.

Johnson, who missed much of last season with a knee injury but is healthy to start this campaign, averaged more than 8 points a contest ago.

Who scores, though, doesn’t matter to the team.

“It’s cool that they don’t care who gets credit and that probably starts with Cheyenne,” White said. “She shares it and she works, and she gives up shots if someone else has a better shot,

“That becomes infectious and contagious.”

Added Brandt: “We all grew up playing together and we’re all humble girls.”

After a couple weeks of league play, at the end of this month the Pirates again will head to Portland for the Holiday Classic, where they’ll meet some of the top teams in the country.

It’s also where White hopes Parrish, currently nursing an injury, will rejoin the team.

Come the new year, it’s back to the Big Nine grind, with a trip to state and the big gold ball the goal.

“A lot of people think that we’ll be the one to win it but it’s a matter of if we want to win it,” Hull said. “We know they’re going to come out and give us they’re best run so we have to be prepared for everything.”