‘I just love all sports’: Douglass star content being multisport athlete after MVP effort

Frederick Douglass’ Ayanna Darrington shies away from questions about which of her sports is her favorite.

The 6-foot-2 junior excels at basketball, volleyball and track, where she has competed in the high jump and the 100-meter hurdles.

“I just love all sports,” Darrington said.

So her favorite sport is the one that’s in season. And, luckily for the 11th Region champion Broncos, when Darrington is healthy, she’s capable of a most valuable player performance like she turned in Saturday.

Darrington’s 27 points and 29 rebounds against Lexington Catholic in Saturday’s region championship game helped Douglass reach the 6-year-old school’s first Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16. Douglass takes on 13th Region champion North Laurel at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Rupp Arena.

The 29 rebounds in one game unofficially ties Darrington for the seventh-highest total in state history, according to Kentucky High School Athletic Association records.

In today’s age of sports specialization, Darrington said she has a lot of folks telling her she should focus on one and quit the others.

“There’s a lot of pressure,” Darrington said. “Everybody always wants me to pick, but I’m just going to do what I’m going to do. I mean, when the time is right, I will.”

On the basketball court, Darrington combines an uncanny ability to grab rebounds that appear out of reach with a soft touch on her close-range shots that seems to make any attempt within 4 feet of the basket automatic.

“If she’s 100 percent, she’s one of the best juniors in the state,” Douglass Coach Daryl Moberly said.

But ankle injuries have beset Darrington this school year, sidelining her in both volleyball and basketball. She missed 11 volleyball matches with the issue and that carried over into basketball, causing her to miss the Broncos’ first four games and still limiting her, occasionally, after she came back.

She began to emerge, coincidentally, at Lexington Catholic’s mid-December holiday tournament, scoring 22 points against Christian Academy-Louisville and notching her first double-double of the season against the Knights with 21 points and 17 rebounds.

Darrington has averaged a double-double each of the last two seasons. She’s averaging 12.3 points and 10.9 rebounds this year.

As Douglass approached the postseason, however, Darrington suffered another ankle injury that put her in a walking boot over the last three weeks, including the entire 42nd District Tournament and their first-round game of the regional.

“Sadly, this ankle’s tore (pointing to her right one) and this ankle (the left), I sprained it twice — one high ankle sprain and one regular sprain,” Darrington said after the region championship.

With the two weeks off and braces on both ankles, Darrington made her return to action in Friday’s region semifinals against Madison Central, one of three top-25 teams in the tournament at No. 23, according to last Dave Cantrall Ratings of the regular season. Douglass ranked at No. 15.

She scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench and made 10 of her 11 field goal attempts in the 57-50 win. She played 25 minutes in the semis and 28 minutes in the finals.

“You see her go 10-for-11 and she hadn’t played in two weeks? First game you come back and you miss one shot?” Moberly asked, playfully. “It was great to have her.”

And the Broncos have a lot more than Darrington.

Their backcourt includes 2,000-point career scorer Jermyra Christian, a gritty senior point guard who can get buckets inside and out (15.8 points per game) and the prolific three-point shooting threat of leading scorer Niah Rhodes (18.1 points), a sophomore.

Third guard Kate Baker (9.0 points) and forward Amayah Maxwell (5.1 rebounds) round out the starting lineup and Bryan Station transfer Victory Sledge (8.5 points) has come on as a difference-maker off the bench since she became eligible 11 games ago.

During the regular season, the Broncos (24-8) faced a who’s who of teams in this week’s Girls’ Sweet 16, including their first-round foe, North Laurel (29-6). The Jaguars defeated Douglass 66-53 at The Farm on Jan. 21. Darrington had a subpar game that day with just six points.

“We got off our defensive game plan and they came in with a good game plan,” Moberly said of the first meeting. “We played sluggish that game, too, but they hit some big shots. They were hot. We’ve just got to come out and play defense like we’re playing right now.”

2023 Girls’ Sweet 16

What: Sixteen-team tournament to decide Kentucky’s high school basketball state champion.

When: Wednesday through Saturday

Where: Rupp Arena

Tickets: Tickets available for purchase at KHSAA.org.

Girls’ Sweet 16 schedule

At Rupp Arena

Wednesday’s first-round games

11 a.m.: Owensboro Catholic (25-9) vs. Bowling Green (24-10)

1:30 p.m.: Sacred Heart (32-3) vs. Lawrence County (30-5)

6 p.m.: George Rogers Clark (26-7) vs. Mercer County (21-13)

8:30 p.m.: Frederick Douglass (24-8) vs. North Laurel (29-6)

Thursday’s first-round games

11 a.m.: Knott County Central (23-9) vs. Ashland Blazer (25-7)

1:30 p.m.: McCracken County (32-2) vs. Bethlehem (28-7)

6 p.m.: Mercy (24-9) vs. Cooper (29-3)

8:30 p.m.: Henderson County (26-4) vs. Simon Kenton (19-14)

Friday’s quarterfinals

11 a.m.: Owensboro Catholic-Bowling Green winner vs. Sacred Heart-Lawrence County winner

1:30 p.m.: George Rogers Clark-Mercer County winner vs. Frederick Douglass-North Laurel winner

6 p.m.: Knott County Central-Ashland Blazer winner vs. McCracken County-Bethlehem winner

8:30 p.m.: Mercy-Cooper winner vs. Henderson County-Simon Kenton winner

Saturday’s games

11 a.m.: Semifinal 1: Winners of Friday’s morning session

1:30 p.m.: Semifinal 2: Winners of Friday’s evening session

7 p.m.: Championship

Darrington comes up big as Douglass claims girls’ 11th Region championship

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The field is set for the 2023 Girls’ Sweet 16. View the bracket and the complete schedule.

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