Four years after joining KHSAA, tiny Danville school trying for two state titles

Less than four years after wading into the deepest waters of Kentucky high school basketball, it’s safe to say that Danville Christian Academy made the right decision.

The tiny Boyle County private school — the most recent data published by the KHSAA shows DCA as the eighth-smallest member school in the state with just 41 students — will compete for the boys’ and girls’ state championships in this week’s All “A” Classic. It is the debut for both squads in the small-school invitational, which since 1993 has sought to crown basketball champions from a subset of the entire KHSAA membership; the mid-season tournament’s existence is often credited for helping dampen calls for Kentucky to move to a classification system in hoops.

It was not a no-brainer for DCA brass when it filed for KHSAA membership. Leading up to the approval of its application to join the the state’s preeminent high school sports organization in 2017, there were doubts from within about its ability to field competitive teams. At the time that application was considered, the school didn’t even have its own gym; it rented whatever hardwood it could find available within a 20-mile radius. The Danville Christian Warriors back then spent as much time practicing in Harrodsburg churches as they did the YMCA in Boyle County.

“Scheduling was a nightmare, and really tough on the parents because they would have to travel so far just to pick kids up,” said Billy Inmon, who’s coached the girls’ team since 2012. “We often say the verse, ‘Don’t despise your humble beginnings,’ from the Bible, because we remember having to bring every basketball, everything you’d ever need, just to practice. And obviously we’re all human and a lot of times would forget things and make it very difficult.”

The small student-body was a concern as well. Inmon said, until the last couple of seasons, the girls’ team could barely fill an entire bench without having every girl in the high school show up for tryouts. The most recent KHSAA data, which shows enrollment from the 2019-20 school year, showed DCA had just 24 girls enrolled that year. There were even fewer boys — 17.

But Inmon, whose team would win a National Association of Christian Athletes championship in its final season as a member of that organization in 2019, was the most adamant among a group of DCA faithful who felt like the school could compete at a higher level if given the opportunity by its governing board. The blessing was given — “It was not without a lot of prayer,” Inmon said, continuing with a laugh, “and a lot of heated discussion” — and the Warriors are living up to their promise.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted both teams last season, but both have rebounded nicely: DCA’s boys are 15-5 while the girls are 15-3 and own wins over three 45th District rivals, including Boyle County and Lincoln County, whose high school student bodies dwarf the entire K-12 enrollment of Danville Christian Academy.

Xavier Oduor, a senior, paces the boys (17.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg) while freshman Grace Mbugua is a walking double-double on the girls’ side (17.2 ppg, 15 rpg). Mbugua, 6-foot-4, committed to Liberty University in September. Inmon said that Carey Green, Liberty’s head coach since the 1999-2000 season and among the NCAA’s active win-percentage leaders (70.9%), told him it’s the first time he’d offered a scholarship to a player prior to her freshman season.

“They obviously see a lot in her,” Inmon said.

That the girls are in contention for an All “A” Classic title isn’t outlandish, given their championship run elsewhere a few years ago and an established culture. Don Story, a former girls’ head coach at Lincoln County and assistant with the Patriots’ boys before retiring from public education at the end of the last decade, took over the reins for the DCA boys beginning with the 2018-19 season, as the school began its transition into full-time KHSAA membership.

The Warriors, who open All “A” Classic boys’ play against 1st Region representative Murray on Thursday, won six games that first season against a schedule consisting mostly of other small christian schools as a probationary member. They finished 16-14 in their first year as a 45th District member prior to ending up 7-17 in 2020-21, the COVID-19 impacted season. “God has moved a lot faster than even we thought was possible,” Story said.

“I’m not saying we’re killers or anything, but we’re competing now,” Story said. “Before, we’d walk in against a Lincoln County or a Boyle County and feel totally overwhelmed. Now we’re competing at least and making it a game that is worthy to watch and enjoy from both sides, not just one side.”

DCA’s girls are among the highest-ranked teams in their bracket — seventh overall according to the latest Cantrall Ratings — but are paired against tournament-favorite Pikeville in Wednesday’s first round. Getting to this opportunity was an uphill climb; they didn’t have a locker room to call their own until 2019. What’s one more Goliath?

“We still have so many kids who remember how it was before. They are super thankful for what we have now,” said Inmon. “ ... I hope we represent our school well. If we glorify God with our effort and our attitude, we’re gonna be happy.”

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