Girls basketball: Mporokoso drops 40 on Hersey in Waubonsie Valley’s Kippfest win
Simply spectacular.
Waubonsie Valley’s Danyella Mporokoso was, without a doubt, in a class by herself Monday evening at the 35th annual Coach Kipp Hoopsfest.
Mporokoso scored 40 points, 27 in the first half, leading the Warriors to a 69-47 win over a very good Hersey team.
The junior was 13-of-19 from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range, and added a game-high 11 rebounds and 4 assists to her stellar night.
Mporokoso also had 4 steals.
“She was playing, really, on instinct,” said Warriors coach Brett Love. “Coming down, pulling up, out of rhythm, things like that, making (good) decisions. I’m really proud of her being aggressive.”
Love added that it was preparation more than anything else that led to the victory, one that saw his team improve to 19-1 on the season.
“Last year (in this tournament) we played Fremd and we lost to them,” added Love. “That’s something that we talked about. We wanted to have a better showing tonight.
“We didn’t have time to prepare for the game against Fremd, but we prepared for this one and she (Mporokoso) came out and did a great job.”
Junior guard Kate Donovan paced Hersey (14-9) with 14 points, while 6-2 sophomore Sadie Marks scored 13.
“I wasn’t happy with our first half,” said Huskies coach Courtney Ludois. “I thought we got outclassed, I thought we got outhustled.
“I really liked the fight we came out with in the second half, which is what we told (the kids). You can either come out and lose by 30, or you can battle.
“We can’t wait until the second half to do that, but I thought we had some players who came to play tonight.”
Mporokoso scored 13 points in the first quarter to stake Waubonsie Valley to a 19-8 lead.
She tallied 14 in quarter number two, and the Warriors took a 38-21 lead into intermission.
Hersey went on a 10-2 run in the third quarter, and when senior Kiki Craft sank two free throws, the deficit was cut to 11.
But Waubonsie Valley righted the ship by scoring the next 8 points, led by 2 consecutive 3-pointers from Lily Newton (8 points).
Mporokoso scored 5 in the final period to ensure that the Warriors kept a healthy advantage.
Donovan added 3 steals to go along with her point total for Hersey, while teammate Etta Fischer pitched in with 6 points.
Junior Arianna Garcia-Evans made a big contribution to the Warriors win, scoring 14 points.
“As a team, we came out strong,” said Garcia-Evans. “That was our focus.
“Make some baskets and play solid defense, and I think we did that throughout the game.”
Waubonsie Valley finished fourth in state last season in Class 4A, and Garcia-Evans added that her team is looking to improve on that.
“We’re trying to go back to state and go further than we did last year,” she said. “That’s the goal.”