Girls basketball: Douglass gets back in the groove with payback win against Henry Clay

Defending 11th Region champion Frederick Douglass found out how quickly its fortunes could change last month when it opened the season with three losses in its first five games, including a stunner to district rival Henry Clay in which it blew an 11-point third-quarter lead.

The December spiral also sunk the Broncos in the statewide rankings from No. 6 in the Herald-Leader girls basketball preseason survey to an “others receiving votes” designation in last week’s first top 15 media poll.

“I’m not even close to worrying about the rankings and all that stuff,” Douglass coach Daryl Moberly said after his team avenged its Henry Clay loss with a resounding 69-40 road win over the Blue Devils on Friday night. “I told them if you’re ‘king of the hill,’ you’ve got to understand they’re coming to knock you off. They understand they have a target on their back. … It can be anybody’s night if you ain’t ready.”

Douglass (8-4) certainly came ready Friday.

Ayanna-Sarai Darrington, a senior Central Michigan commit who fouled out of the Broncos’ 71-65 loss to Henry Clay on Dec. 12, notched a team-high 20 points, 17 rebounds, four steals and three blocks in the rematch.

“The losses are just paving the way for our wins,” Darrington said. “We’re just learning together.”

Douglass controlled the rematch from the outset, taking a 39-18 lead at halftime and barely letting up. Niah Rhodes added 16 points and Kate Baker chipped in eight points and four assists. Both had a pair of 3-pointers. Lydia Van Metre led Henry Clay (10-4) with 12 points.

Two of Douglass’ four losses this season came at the hands of No. 2 George Rogers Clark, including a 64-42 defeat that knocked the Broncos out of Lexington Catholic’s holiday tournament.

“I knew we weren’t there yet,” Moberly said of his team’s ability to compete in early December. “We were still struggling with a few things that we needed to tighten up on. … I feel like we’ve tweaked in the right direction, right now.”

The Broncos rebounded with back-to-back wins at the Carolina Invitational in Charleston, South Carolina.

“Our South Carolina tournament really got us back in the groove,” Darrington said. “We were mentally down, but that South Carolina tournament got us back to where we need to be.”

Douglass won’t get much of a chance to relax the rest of the season. It was scheduled to face 6th Region favorite Butler on Saturday night at Franklin County and has 42nd District rival Bryan Station on Tuesday. Then it’s a home game against 7th Region contender Central, followed by a matchup with No. 12 Notre Dame in Winchester later in the week.

The difficult schedule is nothing new for Moberly’s squad. That’s by design because the Broncos want to be ready to defend their 42nd District and 11th Region titles and get back to Rupp Arena for a second straight Girls’ Sweet 16.

“I took this job to get kids better,” Moberly said. “I’m not trying to schedule games for personal accolades. I like to be competitive. I like to grow. … I feel like we’ve changed the culture over here. When you come to Douglass, you’ll be ready to win.”