New Richmond โ For the better part of eight years the Wyoming East girls have entered the season with one overarching expectation โ win a state championship. Theyโve made it to the title game five times in that span, securing two titles and now theyโre hoping to play on the final Saturday for the third consecutive year.
Following a 67-35 loss to Parkersburg Catholic in last yearโs title game the motivation to return to the top of the mountain is at an all-time high
โWe have that goal every year,โ Wyoming East coach Angie Boninsegna said. โEvery year we come out and we want to play that last Saturday and thereโs so many factors. Injuries and foul trouble can play a role but thatโs what weโre searching for.โ
The Lady Warriors are as loaded as theyโve ever been for a title run. Abby Russell, Maddie Clark and Kayley Bane have all been first-team all-staters at some point in their career and all played a key role in the programโs 2021 state title run. On top of those three, starters Colleen Lookabill and Cadee Blackburn return joined by key bench players Alivia Monroe, Charleigh Price. The experience in this group has Boninsegna excited but the chemistry has been key as well.
โThey work well together and theyโre very good buddies off the court,โ Boninsegna said. โWe have a mixture of youth and experience so hopefully our experience will help the youth come along like we need to because we have a really rough schedule this year.
โGroups will tell you early on what they need to be successful,โ Boninsegna said. โWe try to adjust early on to help them be successful. This group is a little cut up. Theyโre reminiscent of back when we had Gabby (Lupardus) and them. They really get along well though. They all went to eat together at Fujiyama and they get along well. Weโve got good senior leadership and Maddie (Clark) and them have stepped up as juniors as well.โ
The schedule features many of the same teams the Lady Warriors have faced over the years, but each are tougher than theyโve ever been. Mingo returns an all-state point guard, Chapmanville returns most of its players from a regional finalist and Summers County, a sectional foe, returns all but one player from a state tournament team.
On top of those teams the Lady Warriors will face Belfry out of Kentucky, Class AAAA Spring Valley, Class AA semifinals St. Marys and Class AAA state champion Logan. Needless to say it will prepare the Lady Warriors for March and test their depth.
โIt gives us a lot of versatility in what we want to do and we have a really tough region,โ Boninsegna said. โWeโre going to have to use everybody at one point during the season to help us out. I have a lot of respect for Chad (Meador) at Summers County and Bluefield. On the other side Mingo Central and Chapmanville always provide a challenge so hopefully weโll be versatile with our bench because weโre deeper and hopefully thatโll help us do different things on the court.โ
Despite their experience and four seniors, the Lady Warriors do have some younger players. Clark is only a junior and Blackburn and Monroe are sophomores. Abby Baker, to figures to see time in the rotation is a freshman. theyโre liable to be the game opposing teams circle on their schedule this season, meaning theyโll be the hunted.
That doesnโt phase Boninsegna.
โWeโve got confidence in them,โ Boninsegna said. โHopefully theyโve gained confidence with each experience theyโve had. (Cadee) Blackburn for example hit two crucial foul shots against Logan last year. We really work hard during the offseason. Weโre confident in them and when we put them in there weโre not going to ask them to do anything they canโt do. Again with that comes a lot of pressure. There are a lot of really good teams in double-A so weโre playing a lot of good teams and that will show us where weโre at. Overall itโs nothing but positives working with these kids.โ
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
