Gallery by Heather Belcher
NEW RICHMOND — The two weeks before Christmas were always going to be crucial for Wyoming East. The three games during that span all feature regional opponents, providing the defending state champions with an early look at what they might face in postseason play.
Two games in there’s reason to be confident.
The Lady Warriors outscored Mingo Central 18-6 in the first quarter and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the game as they improved to 3-1 with a 53-39 win over the Miners Monday night in New Richmond.
Stifling Mingo with a pressure defense and scoring efficiently on the offensive end, East set the tone early for what would be a difficult night for the guest from Mingo County.
The hosts forced seven turnovers in the opening quarter and made eight of their nine shot attempts in the frame, jumping Mingo from the start.
“I think defensively we got off to a really good start and created some shots,” East coach Angie Boninsegna said. “We were more patient on offense too and took good shots.”
Following an offensive rebound and putback from Mingo’s Madisyn Curry that got her team on the board, East ran off eight straight points to make it a 12-2 game. For the rest of the quarter the Miners fought an uphill battle, never cutting the deficit below eight.
East junior Colleen Lookabill had a hand in that, coming away with four of her nine steals in the opening frame. Her pressure and disruption of passing lanes led to limited shots and often sped the Miners up when they did manage to advance the ball.
“She frustrated (Addie Smith) a lot,” Boninsegna said. “(Lookabill) and Maddie (Clark) kind of switched on her. But we did overall a really good job of switching on (Smith). When they hit a spurt in the fourth quarter where she got hot, I had to call a timeout to let them know we couldn’t back off her. She’s too good of a shooter. But I thought we set the pace and dictated what we wanted to do and Colleen did an excellent job with her on-ball defense.”
On the flip side fellow junior Kayley Bane stayed hot after a 30-point outing against Bluefield last week. Bane scored eight of her 16 points in the opening frame, patiently waiting for shots as the offense worked the ball around.
“She’s making good decisions,” Boninsegna said of Bane. “She’s pump faking and stopped shooting jump shots more than what’s open for her. She actually was sick this past week with a bug but I’m happy she was able to come back and play as much as she did. Overall, offensively I think she’s gained more confidence with each game.”
The second quarter wasn’t much friendlier for the Miners as they trailed by as many as 21 points before Smith’s 3-pointer at the end of the frame slashed it back to 18.
Overall the visitors turned the ball over 14 times in the opening half.
“We knew what to expect,” Mingo coach Kim Davis Smith said. “I started three freshmen today who are really true freshmen. We knew what to expect and they got us. We knew the style of basketball they play, so the pressure did play a factor. They scored a lot in transition. I mean it still was a ball game 11 points at one time, as bad as we played.”
Despite maintaining a comfortable lead through three quarters, the fourth quarter featured some hiccups from the hosts.
A layup from Mingo’s Alyssa Davis and a 3-pointer form Smith slashed the deficit to 11 late, prompting a timeout from Boninsegna.
“Sometimes we make some errant passes when we’re up,” Bonisegna said. “We tell them to be patient and when we did that we scored layups a couple of times on really good passes. It’s a work in progress. They’re getting used to playing together more. Towards the end of the game we have to finish what we started. It’s getting there but we’re a ways from where we want to be. But I’ve said all alone growth is what we’re aiming for. The kids played hard.”
The timeout did the trick as the Lady Warriors held the ball during the last minute to secure the victory.
Bane led Wyoming East with 16 points while point guard Cadee Blackburn added 15 to go along with seven rebounds. Smith led Mingo with 17 while Curry recorded 15 points to go along with 12 rebounds.
East will finish its regional stretch on Wednesday when it travels to Summers County.
Email: Tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
MC: 6 9 12 12 – 39
WE: 18 15 10 10 – 53
Mingo Central
Alyssa Davis 2, Delaney Grimmett 2, Madisyn Curry 15, Addie Smith 17, Megan Adkins 3
Wyoming East
Hannah Blankenship 4, Maddie Clark 10, Kayley Bane 16, Colleen Lokkabill 4, Cadee Blackburn 15, Alivia Monroe 2, Charleigh Price 2
3-point goals – MC: 4 (Smith 3, Adkins 1); WE: 1 (Blackburn)
