HANNIBAL — Not only did Katrina Davis get a monkey off her back Monday night, she also got the weight of her two cousins off it as well.

The Bellaire senior netted a career-high 37 points, surpassing the coveted 1,000-point mark for her career along the way, as the Big Reds (2-0) recovered from a slow start to post a 56-42 come-from-behind victory inside the Richard L. Potts Gymasnium at River High School.

“Whenever we’d have our family dinners they would always remind me that they scored 1,000 points, so I really wanted to do it so I could join them,” she said of her cousins, former Bellaire hoop standouts Nate and Jose Davis. “I would always tell them that I was going to be like them one day. Now I’m there.

“I just wanted to get it out of the way,” she admitted with a sigh of relief. “There was a lot of pressure on me because a lot of my family was here. I just wanted to hurry up and get the 29 (points) and get it over with so I could start playing normal.”

Nate Davis is Bellaire’s all-time scorer with 2,562 points, while Jose checked in with 1,457. Katrina now has 1,008 and counting.

The three-sport performer, who stands just 5-2, scored 15 of her game-high point total in the pivotal second quarter as Bellaire rallied from a 15-9 deficit after one quarter.

“It’s desire,” she acknowledged of her non-stop play. “My dad (Alvin) always tells me that you don’t have to have size if you want to go and play. That’s what I try and keep in my head when I’m out there. Go get the ball.”

River (0-2) had led 11-0 to start the contest behind some scrappy play, but it didn’t last long.

“That was scary. Oh my gosh,” Davis recalled. “They (River) came out with a lot of intensity but, fortunately, we settled down finally.”

“They stepped the pressure up. It’s the same thing that happened against Monroe Central,” River head coach Rick Isaly explained of the turnaround. “We’ve been working on it (the pressure defense) since the Monroe Central game and I thought we would execute better than we did, but we didn’t.

“Until we can beat the pressure we’re not going to beat anybody. We know that,” he insisted. “We did a better job in the second half, but it was too late.”

“We’ve had some slow starts through the years. There have been times that we haven’t come out ready to play, and tonight was another one of those cases,” Bellaire head coach John Farrier said. “I didn’t feel like our tenacity was there because they (River) were getting easy looks. They were comfortable in that first four minutes.

“River came out like that in the JV game and then did it in the varsity game and we couldn’t match it,” he added. “When we cranked the ratchet up a little bit defensively, things weren’t so easy for them then. After that first four minutes I didn’t think they were real comfortable. That’s what we have to do. We have to turn people over and make them uncomfortable.”

Davis netted the first eight points of the second quarter to give her team a 17-15 advantage they would never relinquish. Lizzie McAninch came off the bench to tally four points in the quarter. A three by Davis as time wound down made it 29-20 at the half.

“She is a great player and we knew we had to stop her,” Isaly said of Davis. “We just didn’t do it. She’s a heckuva player.”

Farrier agreed.

“She’s always been a very good all-around player,” he said of Davis who stuffed the stat sheet with a dozen rebounds (5 offensive), six steals and three assists in 40 minutes of action. “Since I’ve been watching basketball, she’s one of the best in being able to do everything. She doesn’t just score. She rebounds. She’s a very smart defender who gets in the right position. She’s a student of the game and knows it so well.”

Davis reached her milestone with 1:24 left in the third quarter. She calmly sank a free throw to make it 38-27 before being congratulated by teammates. The game was stopped for a brief moment as she was recognized for her accomplishment.

Anna Pramik came off the bench to score five points for Bellaire. McAninch, Tayah Frazier and Mia Gavarkavich all added four in support. Jayden Lowe grabbed four rebounds.

Senior Allie Long paced River with 16 points. Hannah Raper, who was saddled with foul troubles, added eight and Kylie Piatt chipped in seven. Long completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. Piatt had six as the Pilots led 30-23 off the glass. However, they also committed 23 turnovers to 11 for the Big Reds.

Both teams return to action Thursday as Bellaire host Martins Ferry in a key Buckeye 8 South game, while River travels to Morristown to meet Union Local.

The Pilots won the JV game.