Chapmanville – The Wyoming County basketball history book is filled with stories of memorable postseason performances.
Tuesday night Wyoming East senior Abby Russell added her own chapter.
Knocking down six 3-pointers and scoring a game-high 20 points, Russell courageously battled through a knee injury to guide the Warriors past Chapmanville 54-47 and win their Class AA Region 3 co-final clash inside the Tiger den.
“I am so thankful. This is very emotional,” Russell said. “I haven’t shot well all season, but coming out tonight, I kind of felt it. I know my dad was watching over me and this is what he wanted me to do. I hurt my knee at practice the other day and I have been trying to fight through it, but it has been rough. I just came out and played the game that I had to play for us to win.”
Wyoming East led 16-11 and by six points early in the second quarter before the Tigers started to claw at the lead.
A runner from Haley Fleming with just under four minutes left in the first half gave the home team its first lead of the night.
When the halftime horn sounded, the Tigers led 27-24 which immediately went to five points on score from Alaira Evans to start the third quarter.
Coming off a 2-for-18 performance from behind the arc in the opening half, East needed a spark and Russell lit the match.
“We were a little intimidated by their size,” Wyoming East head coach Angie Boninsegna said. “We would drive in and take some short arm shots. They are a big aggressive team and they go at you pretty good.”
After making both triples for the Warriors in the first half, Russell knocked down four more in the third quarter.
Russell banked in her first 3-pointer with 6:35 to play in the quarter before she rattled in two more to give East a 33-32 lead.
“I think she hit the rim, hit the backboard and hit every piece of equipment up there and they went down,” Chapmanville head coach Kristina Gore said, playfully. “But, that kid has persevered through so much in life with her ACL injury and losing her dad to Covid. God bless her and I am happy for her. I hate that she did that against us. I wish it could have been somebody else, but I believe good things happen to good people and she is one of those good people, so good for her.”
With eight minutes to play in the ball game, Wyoming East was clinging to a 38-37 lead.
“That was the difference in the game. Abby kept us in it right there,” Boninsegna said. “When she banked in that 3 I thought the good Lord was with us. She made a huge difference in the third quarter. I am just so proud of the effort tonight, not only the girls on the court, but off the court as well.”
Russell did not score the remainder of the night, but her third quarter effort set the stage for her teammates who finished the game in the fourth period.
“I just kept shooting. I knew if I didn’t keep shooting that we weren’t going to win,” Russell said. “The other games it has been Cadee (Blackburn) and Maddie (Clark) with Kayley (Bane) and Colleen (Lookabill) chiming in. I haven’t done much to really help on the scoring part, but I knew I had to come out and get everybody involved.”
The Tigers were far from done and opened the final quarter on a 6-1 run to lead 43-39 as the clock approached five minutes to play.
Two free-throws from Lookabill cut the lead in half before Blackburn finally found the mark from deep.
Struggling all night, Blackburn missed her first attempt of the possession, but an offesnive rebound by the Warriors gave her another look and the sharpshooting sophomore drilled the money ball to give East the lead for good.
“I knew we needed that shot really bad,” Blackburn said. “I was disappointed in myself for not making a shot all game, but I knew we had to have it. That one meant a lot.”
An immediate steal by the Warriors was converted into a Clark layup to push the lead to three point with 3:57 to play.
The Tigers answered with a pair of free throws before Lookabill found Clark slashing to the rim for another lay-up.
A stickback from Evans for two of her team-high 19 points trimmed the to 48-47, but those were the final points of the night for the Tigers.
A free throw from Bane and Lookabill made it a three-point game, but the dagger came on East’s next possession.
Following two missed free-throws, East gathered the rebound, forcing Chapmanville to foul again. Four makes from the charity line from Clark sealed the deal for East.
“It was a great basketball game and it was unfortunate that somebody had to lose, especially with our region being as loaded as it is this year. I felt like if we won this game that we had a chance to be a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the state tournament,” Gore said. “Instead we are on the outside looking in. Hopefully we can turn the tables next year and be there in person. Happy for the kids from East. They are experienced and they work hard. It seemed like the ball was really bouncing their way tonight.”
Wyoming East is the No. 2 seed in the girls state tournament and will play Ravenswood at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 8.
“I felt like our best chance to win a title was to beat them here on our home floor. I really felt like this was the championship game tonight and (Wyoming East) was who we had to go through,” Gore said. “I think we gave them everything they wanted and more. Hats off to them because they are a good team, but we are a good team too.”
WE: 16 8 14 16 – 54
C: 11 16 10 10 – 47
Wyoming East
Colleen Lookabill 7, Maddie Clark 12, Kayley Bane 5, Abby Russell 20, Cadee Blackburn 7, Abi Baker 3. Totals: 17 13-19 54.
Chapmanville
Jaiden Mahon 5, Alaria Evans 19, Haley Fleming 7, Brooke Christian 9, Chloe Thompson 4, Jaycee Blair 3. Totals: 16 12-16 47.
3-pointers: WE: 7 (Russell 6, Blackburn); C: 3 (Christian 3)