Gallery by Tina Laney
Hinton – Wyoming East all-stater Maddie Clark hasn’t been at her best offensively early this season, averaging a shade over 11 points per game for the top-ranked Lady Warriors.
She picked a perfect time to right the ship.
Clark scored a season-high 20 points, including 12 in the first half, helping East to a 53-30 victory over Summers County Tuesday in Hinton.
With her team shooting 25 percent from the field in the first half on 32 attempts, Clark accounted for five of East’s eight field goals in the opening half including eight of her team’s 10 first quarter points.
For the game she finished 8 of 12 from the field, helping her team close out a pesky Summers County team that trailed by just four points at the break.
“I made the first shot of the game so it got me more comfortable and into it and I actually feed off the crowd,” Clark said. “They were dogging so it kind of just got me going. And against Mingo (Central) last week we started slow then too. We had four points in the first quarter. Nobody made their shots so I knew that couldn’t happen today of we’d lose.”
One saving grace for the Lady Warriors throughout the opening half was the Bobcats couldn’t cash in from point blank range despite their numerous attempts. They shot just 23 percent from the field (5 of 22) in the opening quarters with 13 of those misses coming from inside the paint – several of them layups.
“As soon as you think you have that opening they close on you,” Summers County head coach Chad Meador said. “It’s looking over your shoulder syndrome. I’ve seen it before and I’ve seen us do that to teams. It’s a little uneasy when it’s happening to your team.”
Clark got the ball rolling when Cadee Blackburn stole a pass and dished to her teammate for a layup. After Gracie Harvey tied the game with a layup on Summers’ fourth shot of the game Clark bolted the other way, cashing in a three-point play for a 5-2 lead. Blackburn added a layup and Clark capped the quarter with a 3-pointer that gave the visitors a 10-6 advantage.
The second quarter featured more of the same struggles for both offenses with shooting percentages of 25 percent for East and 30 percent for Summers in the frame.
Despite taking 10 less shots in the first half than East, the Lady Bobcats stayed afloat by winning the boards 22-13 in the opening half and finding their all-stater Gracie Harvey who scored five of Summers’ nine second-quarter points. She was the only Lady Bobcat to find much luck offensively. Their second-leading scorer, Sullivan Pivont, who came in averaging over 16 points per game, struggled to find much separation with Clark as her primary defender. She finished 0 of 12 from the field with two points in a frustrating night.
“We thought our gameplan was solid but we knew we had to have some points on the board for it to work,” Summers County head coach Chad Meador said. “Our offensive struggle was a direct result of their defensive pressure. That’s why defense wins basketball games. They’re a very good basketball team, they play 94 feet and they’re the No. 1 team in the state for a reason. That’s what good defensive teams do.”
Clark attempted just three shots in the second quarter, notching two of them as the visitors clung to a four-point advantage at the break.
After the intermission reinforcements arrived.
Abby Russell, who scored all 10 of her points in the second half, spurred a 7-0 East run with a pair of layups out of the break, including one on a lengthy offensive set.
“We discussed if we’re not shooting well from the 3-point line we’ve got to attack the goal but they’re big,” East head coach Angie Boninsegna said. “Overall our effort’s there, we just need to get consistent. I think our defensive pressure wore them down a bit and we hit some key shots and had some key drives to the goal, but we’ve just got to be patient on offense and run a play and take a good shot. We’re fortunate at times where we have five guards out there and we take a quick shot. With a pass or two more we could have a great shot. It’s a work in progress and anytime you can come over here and get a win it’s big win because they have such a good program.”
A layup from Kayley Bane made it a 28-17 lead, one Summers trimmed to eight points with an Avery Lilly jumper and a Gracie Harvey free throw but a Blackburn 3 and a Clark layup pushed it back to double digits for good.
“This is the third different game plan we’ve had in the last three times we’ve played Wyoming East,” Meador said. “We’ll go back to the drawing board and maybe the fourth time’s the charm.”
Clark led East and all scorers with 20 points while Russell added 10. Harvey led Summers with 13 points while Abby Persinger finished with five.
East improves to 7-0 and will play Class AAAA Spring Valley at the New River CTC Invitational on Jan. 4 at the Beckley-Ra;eigh County Convention Center while Summers drops to 6-2 with a regional matchup at Chapmanville slated for Friday.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
WE:10 9 14 20 – 53
SC: 6 9 5 10 – 30
Wyoming East
Maddie Clark 20, Kayley Bane 8, Abby Russell 10, Cadee Blackburn 9, Alivia Monroe 2, Gabby Cameron 2, Abi Baker 2
Summers County
Liv Meador 5, Avery Lilly 4, Gracie Harvey 13, Abby Persinger 6, Sullivan Pivot 2
3-point goals – WE: 2 (Clark, Blackburn); SC: 0