Louisville signee Grace Mbugua had five blocks and didn’t have to leave her feet to get this one. (Tonia Witt/Rise Up Sports Photo)
Danville Christian Academy almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets in girls state tournament history last year when it fell just short against Cooper in its first trip to the big show.
DCA got back to Rupp Arena again by winning the 12th Region title and this time got its first state tourney win by beating Daviess County 53-40. The Warriors had an 18-point lead going to the fourth quarter and coasted to the win.
Coach Billy Inmon said he had “asked everybody to pray for wisdom” for how to stop Daviess’ 3-point shooting. His prayers got answered apparently as Daviess was just 5-for-17 from 3-point range and three of those came in the fourth quarter.
“I can’t say enough about how the girls executed the defensive game plan except for the last three or four minutes,” Inmon said. “We took rebounding for granted and did not go after some balls the way we should have.”
Louisville signee Grace Mbugua had a slow scoring start but finished with 21 points on 8-for-18 shooting, 14 rebounds, five blocks and one steal. Point guard Alaya Quisenberry, who did not play at DCA last year, had 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting and six assists in her state debut. Sophomore Amauri Blackford added 12 points and seven rebounds in only 19 minutes.
There is little time to rest for DCA, which will have only about 20 hours after Thursday night’s game ended before it faces Henderson County (28-5) tonight at 6. Henderson forced 20 turnovers with its relentless full-court pressure in a 45-30 win over Marshall County Thursday night.
Inmon kept most of his starters in until the final minute — Paisley Metz, Quisenberry and Mbugua all played 32 minutes and Grace Meyer 31.
Inmon said he tried not to worry about any potential fatigue impact because “worries too much” anyway.
“These kids proved to me in the All A (won by DCA) they could play (a lot of minutes) and got stronger every game,” Inmon said. “When you get those types of athletes, you let them go. I did have a little concern about Amauri. She was not feeling like herself. The rest of them I don’t have any concerns about. We just have to do a good job getting our rest and hydrating.”
What about Henderson County?
“I do this one game at a time,” Inmon said. “I don’t even know who we are playing. I will not get any sleep tonight. It’s nothing for me to watch six or seven games. I will sleep when this thing is over.”
Mbugua said it was easier on DCA this time because the Warriors had been to the state tourney before.
“Knowing we deserved to be here through God and trusting the work we put in knowing we belonged and knowing what to expect,” Mbugua said.
Inmon said he’s in “awe” that a high school with 78 students can compete with bigger schools and reach the state tourney (and the DCA boys also won the 12th Region this year).
“God has just blown us away,” Inmon said. “You see how hard it is for any team to get here even if they have 1,500 kids. We are just blessed.”
