Gallery by Heather Belcher
Much has changed since the Wyoming East and Westside girls basketball teams last met on March 29, 2021.
Both programs have different head coaches and all of the players that were on the rosters for the last matchup have all graduated.
The balance of power? That still remains the same, favoring the east.
Class AA No. 3 Wyoming East smothered Westside from wire to wire, exiting Clear Fork with a 64-26 victory Wednesday night.
It was status quo for the Lady Warriors who flexed their muscles on defense.
They didn’t surrender a field goal to the Lady Renegades until the 5:14 mark of the second quarter, forcing 28 turnovers on the evening. The defensive dominance put the game out of reach early for the hosts who trailed 21-2 after a quarter.
“To be able to do it without fouling is the biggest thing, cause we’ve had a little bit of trouble this year with fouling,” East head coach Ryan Davidson said. “It’s been because our position is bad, so we have to compensate by reaching and we’ve been working really hard on that. It wasn’t great, but it was better tonight so I’m really happy about that.”
“They’re physical and they do a good job getting up in you and making you have to work,” Westside head coach Jamie Lusk said. “That’s good for our team. We need to face that as much as possible.”
In the first installation of the rivalry for all players involved, one who’s been on both sides of it played a pivotal role early.
Rylee Brown, a transfer from Westside, led the charge through the first quarter for East, nailing 5-of-7 field goal attempts including a pair of 3-pointers. She scored the first seven points of the game, finishing the frame with 10, the half with 16 and the game with 19, second to on the night to East all-stater Cadee Blackburn.
“Honestly the environment, when we used to play at home I knew how it was going to be,” Brown said. “I kind of had an idea of how the student section was going to be and I just tried to ignore it. I think the nights that I’ve struggled have kind of helped me get my confidence back.”
Brown was just an example of the efficiency East posted on offense. While the Lady Warriors finished shooting just 37 percent from the field, that was weighed down by a 6-of-26 showing from behind the arc. On shots inside of it they hit at a 47 percent clip (17-of-36). They generated easy looks in transition off of turnovers but also worked effectively in the half court. Of the 23 field goals they made, 19 were assisted on. Abi Baker led the charge on that front, dishing out seven to go along with 10 rebounds.
“For us, I’ve always wanted to get it to where our defense is a problem, but we’re efficient and patient on offense too,” Davidson said. “I think those two together make it really difficult for other teams, because they play fast because we’re guarding them and then they wanna play slow. So it’s a speed thing, it’s the pace of the game. So I’m really proud of the way they’re passing the ball, and they’re unselfish.”
The East offense failed to produce a point through the first two minutes but they came in bunches after the first one fell.
Following Brown’s 7-0 spurt to open the scoring, Gabby Cameron added a three-point play to push the lead to double digits. A pair of Abi Baker layups made it a 14-0 contest before Westside broke the ice with an Alaina Lester free throw with 1:33 to play on the opening frame. A pair of Blackburn free throws and another Brown 3 pushed the advantage to 19-1.
Westside’s first field goal came courtesy of Karsyn Paynter in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 23-4 but Blackburn proved overwhelming, scoring 12 of her game-high 21 points in the frame.
The game was never in doubt in the second half with East holding a 43-12 advantage at the intermission.
While never an issue for the girls programs in years past, the return of the rivalry was welcomed for a senior class that never had the chance to experience before this year. Afterwards the two teams shared a word of prayer with each other at center court.
“I think they did a really good job and it looked a couple times where it could have easily gotten a little bit chippy and it didn’t,” Davidson sad. “I would like to think that one is because of the maturity of the girls, but I think the world of Jamie. I think he’s a wonderful man, and he and I go a long way back. We’ve been friends for a long time so I would like to think that we have established where it’s a rivalry, but it’s still just a game.”
“Me and Ryan get along great,” Lusk said. “I mean, we’ve known each other for 30 years. We played high school basketball against each other. I told somebody before the game, one of the referees, I said, ‘Yeah, me and Ryan played high school basketball against each other but mostly he was on the floor, but I was over watching from the bench for Oceana while he was Mullens.’ But, we’ve always had a good relationship and I’ve always had respect for that program. I know he respects us as a program, too, and it’s a good relationship. There’s nothing wrong with that. You can have a good rivalry but when the game’s over there’s nothing wrong with being friends with the people from there.”
WE: 21 22 16 5 – 64
W: 2 10 4 10 – 26
Wyoming East
Cadee Blackburn 21, Kyndal Lusk 7, Abi Baker 6, Alivia Monroe 6, Gabby Cameron 5, Rylee Brown 19
Westside
Karsyn Paynter 9, Sarah Lilly 4, Kaylin Matney 7, Alaina Lester 3, Tyrus Stewart 1, Gabby Brown
3-point goals – WE 6 (Brown 4, Blackburn 1, Lusk 1); W: 0
