Gallery by Heather Belcher
Charleston – Wyoming East coach Angie Boninsegna knew she’d have to rely on the play of a couple key freshmen in the team’s Class AA quarterfinal matchup against Charleston Catholic.
She didn’t realize how early she’d have to rely on them.
Nonetheless, they delivered.
With starters Maddie Clark and Kayley Bane spending the final 11 minutes of the first half on the bench in foul trouble, East’s trio of freshmen Alivia Monroe, Gabby Cameron and Cadee Blackburn scored eight points in the opening 16 minutes, helping East to a 55-37 victory over Charleston Catholic Wednesday night at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
With the win, the defending champion Lady Warriors return to the semifinals where they’ll face No. 3 St. Marys on Friday at 9:30 a.m.
Early on East’s title defense appeared in jeopardy with the Irish matching it blow for blow, tying the contest three times in the opening frame.
Add in the foul trouble that limited Bane and Clark to 10 minutes combined in the opening half and it spelled early disaster.
Fortunately for the Lady Warriors two experienced vets – Hannah Blankenship and Abby Russell – were there to help guide their younger teammates through the storm.
Blankenship finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds after posting an 11-point, 10-rebound effort in the Class AA title game last May. Russell, an all-tournament selection last year was good for nine and a steadying hand in the opening half.
“Our shots weren’t really falling in the first half and I was just getting long rebounds,” Blankenship said. “They weren’t really putting a body on me so I was able to just roll to the basket and get the easy boards but I’m just glad to get the win.”
After a pair of Bane layups and a Russell free throw helped East to a 7-4 lead, Claire Mullen knotted the game at 7-7 with a 3. East led 12-9 after a quarter and expanded it to 16-9 when Blankenship nailed a free throw two minutes into the second frame.
Facing the threat of East pulling away, Catholic dug in with a pair of Aurelia Kirby 3s leading the charge to tie the game at 20. That was when the combination of youth and experience meshed for East.
Freshman Gabby Cameron scored on consecutive layups and Russell nailed a deep 3 to cap a 7-0 run that gave the Lady Warriors a 27-20 advantage heading into the break.
“We’ve been able to go eight or nine deep but these kids are hitting our bigs,” Boninsegna said. “They’re catching the ball and they’re driving and dishing. they’ve got to look at the goal. I have confidence in them. It’s not many times you have a first-team all-stater (Russell) as your first sub off the bench. Having Abby there coming off the bench and helping us does a lot for us and when we drive and dish and hit them we’re really effective.”
The Irish stayed within striking distance, holding East scoreless over the first two minutes of the second half but their offense couldn’t keep pace. Meanwhile Clark was able to find her groove after riding the pine for most of the first half. The sophomore standout scored East’s first eight points, driving to the paint and finishing through contact, twice making layups she was fouled on.
“I knew that I needed to drive because we wasn’t scoring any points and that’s my strong point,” Clark said. “When it worked once I knew I needed to just go off two feet and get to the bucket.”
After a pair of Claire Mullen free throws cut the deficit to 38-25 for Catholic, Monroe converted on a layup while being fouled, missed the free throw but an offensive rebound led to a Blankenship 3 to make it a 43-25 game after three.
Afterwards Clark delivered the knockout blow, scoring on a layup and a pair of free throws to push the lead to 24 30 seconds into the fourth. Catholic never threatened again.
“I love these kids but we just weren’t there the first half,” Boninsegna said. “I think the foul trouble did affect us the first half. We got more in sync where we could play longer periods of time. I praise our bench a lot for coming in. Abby, this is probably the most minutes she’s had to play at once and she played really well and got a little gassed but we’re fortunate to have her back. We had a nice discussion on the benefits of playing a much tougher second half.”
Clark finished with a team-high 14 points while Russell added nine.
Kirby led Catholic with 10 points in the loss.
The Lady Warriors advance to their fifth semifinal under Boninsegna where they’re 4-1 with the last loss coming in 2015.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
Pass from Blankenship to Russell for a touchdow…. I mean layup. Russell will head to the line looking to put East up 38-23. There’s 1:30 left in Q3#wvgirlsbb pic.twitter.com/dhW2Ocjdrr
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) March 10, 2022
