Gallery by Heather Belcher
New Richmond – The tried method was once again true for Class AA No. 1 Wyoming East.
In a rematch of last year’s Class AA state championship game the Lady Warriors flexed their muscles, forcing 25 turnovers en route to a 65-34 victory against state runner-up Summers County in New Richmond Thursday.
Avoiding the slow start that plagued them in last year’s title game, the No. 4-ranked Lady Bobcats fought the hosts to an 11-11 tie after a quarter.
And then the leading scorer from last year’s title game, Maddie Clark, decided to repeat that feat. She scored the first seven points of the second quarter in a two-minute span, finishing with 15 for the game. Her aggressiveness signaled a change for the Lady Warriors who led by multiple possessions the rest of the way.
“There was confusion about a foul call and everyone was getting mad,” Clark said. “Everyone was getting into it and I was like, ‘Okay, you need to score now. The game is too close and you’re way better than this team.’ So I made my foul shots and I was like, yeah, I can score the ball and so then I just shot it, but I was open and creative on shots.”
Clark, who was scoreless in the first quarter despite dishing three assists, started looking for her own shot, taking advantage of Summers’ defense. Two early foul shots jumpstarted her and the East offense which scored the first nine points of the second quarter.
It was a much-needed shot in the arm for East which managed 17 field goal attempts in the opening quarter to Summers’ nine. The difference was both teams managed to knock down four each, leading to the tie.
But the pace wasn’t sustainable for the Lady Bobcats who turned the ball over 16 times in the first half, eight in each quarter, and managed to get off just five shots in the second quarter.
East, buoyed by the extra possessions its defense generated, took 16 shots in the second quarter. Clark managed four of them in that frame, heading into the break with 11 points.
“First we were running the pick and roll and the roll was wide open,” Clark explained. “When they started guarding the roll so you just got to hit them with a hesi then go around because they were over-playing it after all. So the roll wasn’t open anymore so I could just go around it to get to the rim.”
Led by Clark, East finished with 21 points in the second quarter for its best scoring frame of the night and led 32-18 at the break with a 33-14 advantage in shot attempts.
East’s performance from the field didn’t improve much in the third quarter (6 of 18) but an 11-5 rebounding advantage and five steals again compensated for those struggles.
It perfectly summed up the night for the Lady Bobcats who lost the rebounding battle 32-21 with East securing as many offensive rebounds (18) as Summers had defensive rebounds.
“I think Alivia (Monroe), Gabby (Cameron), Kenna (Price) and Charleigh (Price) have really stepped up,” East head coach Ryan Davidson said. “Our post play has come a long way and they’re starting to attack the basketball where I thought early in the season they were waiting on it to come to them. So if we can keep doing that, if we can rebound the ball like that, we’re going to be fine. And I have got a huge amount of respect for Summers County and coach (Rick) Blevins. I know what they do. I know they’re good at it. So if we didn’t rebound the ball, we would lose. I’ve seen it.”
For Blevins it was a night of frustrations. Hoping to replicate the result of Summers’ last visit to East – a win in the sectional championship game – turnovers proved fatal. Amongst the 25 committed, 18 came via steals, giving East opportunities in transition.
“We let their pressure get to us,” Blevins said. “We didn’t get the ball out of our hands when we saw them coming. We just tried to dribble through it and you can’t dribble through that. Those kids are too good. You can’t dribble between two of them and get through that. We just didn’t take good care of the ball.”
The rebounding numbers proved especially frustrating for Blevins. East finished with 61 shot attempts to Summers’ 30, something that could’ve been partially avoided by limiting East on the offensive glass.
“I think it was that they wanted the ball more than we did honestly because they were running by us to get those rebounds,” Blevins said. “We were just letting them. It wasn’t like we were putting a body on them and they were still getting around. They were just running by us.”
Abby Persinger led Summers with 14 points in the loss while Avery Lilly netted 13.
Clark finished with 10 assists to go with her 15 points while Cadee Blackburn scored 13 and Gabby Cameron added 10.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
SC: 11 7 9 7 – 34
WE: 11 21 14 19 – 65
Summers County
Grace Harvey 6, Avery Lilly 11, Abby Persinger 14, Melania Hayes 2, Alli Lambert 1
Wyoming East
Maddie Clark 15, Cadee Blackburn 13, Kyndal Lusk 9, Abi Parker 5, Alivia Monroe 6, Charleigh Price 3, Gabby Cameron 10, Michaela Brooks 2, Kyleigh Martin 2
