CLAYTON — Kooper Stone was admittedly a little slower up the ladder to cut her piece of sectional-championship net than she would have liked. This was also not the exactly the scenario she envisioned either, dressed in a T-shirt and sweats instead of her basketball uniform.

Two months ago, almost to the day, the Danville senior tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in a win against Cascade. Two weeks later, she had surgery, effectively ending her high school basketball career. There was a new role to learn, even if she did not know how to embrace it immediately.

“It’s definitely been hard,” said the 6-1 Stone, a three-year varsity player who was averaging 8.0 points and 3.8 rebounds eight games into the season. “But I’m slowly learning that I can make an impact without being on the floor. That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from this. And I feel like it’s made me a better person.”

Central Indiana scores, stats, schedule: Indiana high school girls basketball sectionals

Stone’s impact may directly impact junior Emma Ancelet more than any of her teammates. “I’m hard on her,” Stone said with a laugh. Ancelet, Danville’s leading scorer on the season, scored six of her nine points in the first quarter as the Warriors cruised to a 53-14 win over Lebanon in the Class 3A Sectional 25 championship Saturday night at Cascade High School.

“It’s good that she’s showed up every day and kept trying to get better as a player and as a person,” Ancelet said of Stone. “And I think she made all of us better people. We’ve become really close this year.”

That connection shows on the court for a Danville team that will take a 23-3 record into Saturday’s regional game against Speedway. The Warriors, a sectional champion for the first time since 2020, were motivated all offseason by last year’s loss to Cascade in the sectional championship.

“That heartbreak sits with you for a long time,” said Danville coach Kaley May, who won her sixth sectional title in 11 seasons. “We had a big group of seniors this year and all we wanted to do was to honor this moment for them. I think we more than accomplished that (Saturday). I’m really proud of what we put on the floor.”

Danville had little trouble with Lebanon (11-15), a Sagamore Conference rival it defeated by 36 points in December. The Warriors did not allow a field goal by Lebanon until the final seconds of the second quarter, taking a 32-5 lead into halftime. Junior Addison Davis led Danville with 16 points and sophomore Maddy Wethington scored all of 12 of her points in the second quarter, including three 3-pointers.

All three of Danville’s regular-season losses came to 4A opponents, including two to sectional champion Plainfield, by a combined 15 points. But despite the record and strength of schedule, the Warriors are not ranked in the top-10.

“Does it really mean a lot when it comes down to the end of the season?” May said. “No. It comes down to who comes to play on these important nights. We’ll keep using it as fuel, sure. But it’s not our main focus.”

The main focus is continuing to move forward in the tournament. Danville won its only two regional titles in 2017 and ’18. The Warriors might not have expected to be in this position with Stone going down to injury and seniors Mika Baxter and Kortney Bynum going down with season-ending injuries before the season.

“All three of them have stuck around and been involved every day,” May said. “Kooper’s voice was one that everybody has always tended to follow. She’s unselfish, she understands the game and she’s a coach on the bench. We appreciate her for the person that she is. It takes a lot for all three of them to stay involved and be a part of everything even if they can’t be on the court. I have nothing but appreciation for those three.”

Stone, who will play at Indiana Tech next season, suffered the injury about five minutes into the game against Cascade on Dec. 2.

“Mentally, it was hard,” she said. “It was hard for me seeing everybody do what I couldn’t. I’ve become closer to God through this and learned I need to be grateful for the little things I have. I still get to be around my teammates every day and help them learn they should be grateful for the little things they have, also.”

That mentality seems to translate to Danville’s style of play. Probably not a coincidence.

“We’re not doing it for ourselves, we’re doing it for each other,” Ancelet said. “We want each other to succeed. And if we want each other to succeed as a whole, we’re going to get better.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA girls basketball: Underrated Danville eases to sectional title