Since her freshman year, Wyoming East guard Maddie Clark has been a defensive stopper.
Her role has evolved since then but at her core she’s an athlete who causes matchup problems and turns steals into points.
But there were times this year where the all-state junior had to re-evaluate her approach on that end of the floor. She was the on-ball defender for a pair of shots that led to losses – one at Mingo Central and another in New Richmond against Summers County.
“When we lost to Mingo at Mingo Addie (Smith) hit that buzzer beater in my face,” Clark said. “At the Summers County game Sullivan (Pivont) hit that shot and that was the shot that put them up and we didn’t get to come back from that. We knew after that if we lost we went home and we really didn’t want to lose. I knew that I had to be able to guard so it really just motivated me. I felt like I was more active after that.”
True to her word, Clark, who averaged 3.4 steals per game in the regular season, upped her production in the state tournament. She led the Class AA field in steals with 12 total in three games.
That was enough to push her over the top as she was named the 2022-23 Lootpress Defensive Player of the Year by the Lootpress sports writers. Clark, last year’s winner, edged out Summers County point guard Liv Meador.
Winning the award again was important not only for the personal success it embodied but for what it meant for East’s defense as a whole . Clark, who’s always favored defense, took pride in upping her game and guarding the best player when necessary. She wasn’t always used to guard the other team’s best player as her efforts and energy were required on offense but she embraced the challenge when she did draw that matchup.
“I wanted to be able to be able to hold their best player to a limited amount of points because I feel like that’s how you win games – being able to keep their best players from scoring,” Clark said. “And I looked forward to to guarding the best players every game. I wanted to deny the ball, get in the passing lanes, get some steals and turn it into offense.”
Clark did just that.
Her 12 steals in the state tournament helped her lead the field with 22 assists, good enough for 7.3 per game. In the quarterfinal matchup against Ravenswood she made eight steals, helping her dish a tournament-high 12 assists in that game as East scored 30 fast break points.
The production was indicative of a point of emphasis East made in the lead up to the tournament. With the halfcourt offense struggling, the Lady Warriors found a way to utilize their strengths on defense and create scoring opportunities off of them. It all started with Clark who tapped into her potential during the tournament run, eventually earning all-state captain honors to cap her junior campaign.
“I feel like we did a better job of pressuring the ball and getting in the passing lanes,” Clark said. “Our press – that’s all we worked on the week before the state tournament and our transition defense. We wanted to transfer from our offense after we scored or missed shots to defense. I feel like we all just really wanted it and we talked about it before the game. We needed to be in their faces. We couldn’t hold back. We needed to score.”
Clark will receive a $500 scholarship as the winner of the award and will be honored at the Lootpress Spring Player of the Year Banquet on Saturday, May 27 at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
Email: tylerjackosn@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
Lootpress Defensive Player of the Year Award Winners
2022 – Maddie Clark, Wyoming East, Soph.
2023 – Maddie Clark, Wyoming East, Jr.
