By Sean McNamara
MORGANTOWN – With three players scoring in double figures and a defense that forced 22 Frankfort turnovers, the Wyoming East Warriors earned their second win in as many days, racing past the Falcons, 56-38, Saturday at Trinity High School in the Vision Homes Invitational.
The Warriors jumped out to a quick 22-10 lead in the first quarter after shooting 8-for-11 and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line against the Frankfort zone defense while forcing seven Falcon turnovers that led to transition opportunities.
In the second quarter, however, the Frankfort defense stepped up its efforts, allowing Wyoming East to make just 3-of-18 shots.
By halftime, the score was 30-21, Wyoming East, with the Warriors shooting 11-of-29 from the field and 2-of-12 from behind the arc.
“We were a little fatigued from last night’s game, I believe,” Wyoming East coach Angie Boninsegna said. “We talked to them at halftime about making that extra pass and getting a good shot up. We were fatigued and we didn’t shoot well from the outside tonight. We had to adjust a little bit.”
The 17-percent shooting mark from behind the arc was caused in part by Wyoming East’s fatigue, but also the Frankfort zone defense, which rotated with the ball and closed out on shooters quickly.
“I was happy with it,” Frankfort coach Steve Willison said of his defense. “Obviously when you’re playing someone well, you’re making sure they’re not shooting the ball. I thought we did a good job of cutting down on their 3-pointers and making them work for their points.”
As Frankfort’s zone defense caused some shooting woes from the perimeter for Wyoming East, the Warriors’ pressure defense made things tough on the Falcons all afternoon.
In the opening half, Frankfort made 7-of-14 shots from the floor with 13 first-half turnovers. Over the course of the game, Frankfort turned the ball over 22 times and shot 13-of-35 from the field with Larae Grove scoring a team-high 12 points.
“We played hard,” Boninsegna said. “We denied the ball well. We knew 10 (Grove) was a good player and we tried to deny her the ball. We tried to be aggressive on the defensive end and we were able to get some steals tonight.”
“I wasn’t really happy with the offense,” Willison said. “When you score in the 30s you’re not going to win too many games. We weren’t happy with that. We have young guards with no seniors at guard. We know we have guards with talent, but they’re not controlling the game. We’re trying to find that.”
In the second half, Wyoming East made a concentrated effort to get the ball inside, only attempting two 3-pointers the rest of the way. With the new interior focus, the Warriors were able to extend the nine-point halftime lead to 12 after three quarters and 18 by the end of the game, with the final score resting at 56-38.
Maddie Clark, Kayley Bane and Cadee Blackburn all reached double figures offensively for Wyoming East with 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively as the Warriors made 21-of-53 shots with 13 assists on their made field goals.
“When we go closer in and hit our 15- to 18-footers we do a much better job,” Boninsegna said. “We found the open man a lot.”
Clark added a team-best five assists and grabbed a team-high five rebounds while Abby Russell swiped four steals to lead the team.
In addition to Grove’s 12 points, Arin Lease and Grace Scott each pitched in six while Avery Noel led the team with seven rebounds and three assists.
As his team prepares to host Mountain Ridge (Md.) Tuesday, Willison hopes to see his team’s confidence and experience grow as the season goes on.
“I have a really young team that starts two sophomores,” Willison said. “They’ve never really played before. I think they’re starting to realize they can play with people. We’re 1-3 right now and just played the best team in the state and lost by 18. That’s a lot of points, but I think we’re going to pick it up. I think they’re starting to feel that and not giving up on the floor.”
Next up for Wyoming East will be a home game Wednesday against Logan, and Boninsegna wants to see her squad build on Saturday’s win and progress moving forward.
“It’s still early in the season and we’re still working out some things,” Boninsegna said. “We’re really blessed to come out with a victory.”
Wyoming East 56 Frankfort 38
Wyoming East
Maddie Clark 5 3-3 13, Kayley Bane 4 0-0 11, Cadee Blackburn 3 4-5 10, Colleen Lookabill 3 1-1 7, Alivia Monroe 2 2-4 6, Abby Russell 1 0-0 3, Abi Baker 1 1-2 3, Gabby Cameron 1 0-0 2, Charleigh Price 0 1-3 1.
Frankfort
Larae Grove 4 2-2 12, Arin Lease 3 0-0 6, Grace Scott 1 4-4 6, Avery Noel 2 1-2 5, Kendall Kelly 0 3-4 3, Adison Pritts 1 0-2 2, Madi Ruble 1 0-0 2, Carlee Kesner 1 0-0 2.
WE – 22,8,12,14 – 56
FRA – 10,11,9,8 – 38
3-Pointers: WE 2 (Russell, Bane) FRA 2 (Grove 2)