Chris Zollner Photo
Danville Christian Academy coach Billy Inmon says 6-4 center Grace Mbugua does not worry about statistics and reacted to news she had led the state in rebounding for a third straight year by saying “Glory to God” and walking off.
“That’s how she is. She asks a lot of questions and is very self motivated,” Inmon said. “You don’t see many girls that tall and strong with the quickness she has. She can be helping off on one side of the floor and the ball is passed to her man and she can still recover and block the shot.
“She’s also learned that if she is in foul trouble to back off. She can stand and raise her arms (she has a 6-7 wingspan) and make it difficult to shoot over.”
Mbugua averages 25.1 points — she shoots 61 percent from the field — 15.1 rebounds per game going into tonight’s final first-round state tournament game in Rupp Arena against 8th Region champion Cooper.
Mbugua, who verbally committed to Liberty University before her freshman season, was dominating in the 12th Region. She had 101 points and 51 rebounds in three games. She was 39 of 58 from the field. She had 40 points in the first round and then pulled off 28 rebounds in the title game.
Mbugua now has 1,973 points and 1,483 rebounds in her four-year career and is a 54 percent shooter from the field.
“She’s very athletic,” Cooper coach Justin Holthaus said. “You cannot stop her but we have to limit her opportunities at the rim.”
Inmon jokes that if he was coaching against her he would “double or triple team” her like most other coaches have done. When that happens, Inmon said DCA has been able to find other players to step up and make opponents pay for that strategy.
Holthaus has a senior-laden team that is used to playing in the state tournament. Inmon calls Cooper “impressive” with its group of players ranging from 5-11 to 6-1 that Holthaus is able to use.
“They are a very big team and they look very strong. Another big thing is experience,” Inmon said. “I think Cooper is a great team. They will present a real challenge for us.”
