BLAZING A HISTORIC PATH: Danville Christian blows by Rockcastle to reach region finals

Photo by Nico Pascarella: Danville Christian junior Grace Mbugua attempts to finish through the contact during a recent game for the Lady Warriors.

STANFORD - Participating in their first-ever 12th Region Tournament, the Danville Christian Lady Warriors have already made plenty of history for their program. In order to reach the finals, however, the Warriors had to take down one of the most historic coaches in the region in Chrysti Noble and Rockcastle County. Although the Rockets were missing leading scorer Macy Spivey, who tore her ACL in their round one win over Mercer County (prayers up to the sophomore by the way, she'll come back even stronger than before), it would take yet another historic performance by Danville Christian if they wanted to advance to Saturday night's final.

Turns out, the Lady Warriors weren't done making history for their program. Not by a long shot. Danville Christian largely dominated the Lady Rockets in this one, with the big presence of Grace Mbugua affecting their ability to get the ball into the lane. Rockcastle left everything out on the court, but it just wasn't enough to stop the Warriors' march towards history, as Danville Christian took home a 62-47 win.

Mbugua hit two free throws to start off the game, with Taylor King drilling the first three of the game for the Rockets to give them an early 3-2 lead. That was the lone lead of the ball game for Rockcastle County. Following a quick 7-0 spree by the Warriors, with Mbugua scoring five and Amauri Blackford hitting a three, Rockcastle was forced to spend a timeout.

Blackford hit another three out of the timeout, with Mbugua once again connecting in the paint to give Danville Christian an impressive 15-3 lead midway through the period. King stopped the 13-0 run with two made free throws. A shot from Ella McKinney shortly before the end of the quarter cut a bit into the Warriors' lead as they trailed 17-7 at the end of the first eight minutes.

Back-to-back threes from Paisley Metz and Blackford forced another quick timeout from Noble and the Lady Rockets. Again, it was King bringing an end to the run by the Warriors. Although Danville Christian kept making baskets inside, Rockcastle finally saw a glimpse of their offense return in the latter stages of the first half. A 6-2 run by the Rockets, including four from Abby Deleon and two from Mckinney, gave the visitors on the scoreboard a tad bit of momentum late, although a basket from Braxtyn Heck gave her team a 32-16 edge at the break.

Photo by Nico Pascarella: Rockcastle County sophomore Taylor King dribbles down the court in a recent game for the Lady Rockets.

More continued paint dominance gave Danville Christian the first three points of the second half, but King responded quickly with a made three early on. Mbugua and Deleon traded baskets in the post before Metz drilled her first three of the night, with plenty more to come. Talynne Shearer finally got on the board to cut the Rockcastle lead down to 40-23, although that was immediately followed by another basket inside from Mbugua.

King and Camryn Cash kept the pressure on the Lady Warriors during the final minutes of the third even though Danville Christian kept on answering anytime the Rockets seemed to be building any sort of offensive momentum for themselves. Metz nailed a three-pointer from the corner to bring the third period to a close, with her team sensing another historic victory as they were up 49-31.

Another Metz three began the fourth as they saw their lead stretch to above 20 points. King was the lone Rockcastle player that could score early on in the fourth, as she had seven points. A four-point play by the Warriors that saw Heck score one and Mbugua score three proved to be the final dagger in the season for Rockcastle, as both teams soon emptied their benches for the final minutes. Reserves Kinsley Smith, Brylee Mullins, Tessa Begley and Sadie Osborne all scored late, but Danville Christian and their passionate fan base were soon roaring with pride as they advanced on to the 12th Region title game with a 62-47 win over the Lady Rockets.

Grace Mbugua was the leading scorer in the game with 30 points and likely had another double-double with the amount of rebounds she pulled down. Taylor King was the leading scorer for Rockcastle with 21. The fantastic careers of seniors Talynne Shearer, Camryn Cash, Haven King, Kelsey Rowe and Brooklyn Smith all come to a close with the loss. Best of luck to all of those players on everything to come in their future.

Danville Christian advances to Saturday's final at 7 p.m., where they will play the winner of the nightcap of Friday's semifinals between Southwestern and West Jessamine.