Gallery by Tina Laney
Hinton – Timing in life is said to be everything.
Unfortunately for Summers County, Saturday was not a good night to entertain the ladies from Wyoming East.
Coming off of a setback at James Monroe Tuesday and with four days to stew on it, the Warriors hit Wayne Ryan Court with a vengeance.
Exploding on a 21-0 run in the opening quarter, the two-time defending Class AA state champions jumped back into the win column with a 64-37 win over the Bobcats.
“This is a hard place to play and they always play hard,” Wyoming East head coach Ryan Davidson said. “I have a ton of respect for Summers County and (head coach) Rick (Blevins). They do a really good job. We knew that they were going to be prepared and if we didn’t bring the same energy that they were going to bring, and more, we were going to be in trouble.”
“Let’s face it, we have been sitting on that loss for awhile and we were ready to get that bad taste out of our mouth,” Davidson went on to say. “The product we put on the floor at James Monroe was unacceptable. We took it personal.”
Summers County fired the first blow to take a 5-0 lead, only to see the Warriors hit another gear.
A bucket from Cadee Blackburn was sandwiched between a pair of scores from Gabby Cameron and Wyoming East was off and running.
Five additional points from Blackburn, along with four each from Abi Baker and Kyndal Lusk keyed the 21-point burst for a 21-7 lead after one quarter.
Back-to-back buckets from Blackburn and Lusk increased the lead to 18 points early in the second quarter, but Summers County refused to roll over.
“We kept fighting back,” Blevins said. “The first time we played them this year, we looked scared to death. It wasn’t like that tonight. We played hard. Turnovers hurt us tonight, but we have gotten better since the last time that we played them.”
Aided by six points from Carly Persinger and four from Avery Lilly, the Bobcats battle back within nine points as the clock ticked under a minute to play before halftime.
Rylee Brown ended the half with a bucket for East, but Summers hit the locker room with some much needed momentum.
“I thought we got passive. We were happy with where we were and we got complacent,” Davidson said about the second quarter performance. “Consistency has been our problem all year, really. When we are good, we are really good. When we are not good, we are kind of terrible. There is not much gray area in there.”
The message from the Wyoming East coach for final 16 minutes was simple.
“Bring the same kind of energy that we started the game with and that the first four minutes would be huge,” Davidson said.
The Warriors took the message to heart and ran off eight straight points, taking a 46-27 advantage after three quarters.
“They are still the team to beat, but I am happy with the way our kids played tonight,” Blevins emphasized. “We have some young ones out there and we had a starter out. I am pretty happy with the progress we have made and we are going to keep getting better.”
Over the first three quarters, Wyoming East did not have its best game offensively, but made up the difference on the defensive end of the floor.
“We are struggling to make shots right now,” Davidson admitted. “We are getting shots, but when they don’t go in, we press it a little bit and try to get something that is not there. Defensively though, there is no reason why we shouldn’t be good every single night. We have athletes that know how to play the game.”
“They know what it is here. If you don’t defend, you don’t have a shot at playing at this school – period,” Davidson continued. “That is what we are. In Charleston, you are going to play three games and you are not going to shoot it well for all three games. The teams that can get stops and hold people to 40 are going to be able to win.”
Wyoming East (9-3) heads to Logan Thursday for a showdown with the Lady Wildcats. The rematch with James Monroe in New Richmond happens Feb. 5.
“If we are a state championship level team, then you come in here and do what you are supposed to do,” Davidson said. “We were going to find out exactly who we were. We feel like tonight starts our second season.”
The road into the postseason gets no easier for the Bobcats (8-6) either. Still ahead is a game against Williamstown, two battles with Greenbrier West and rematches with both James Monroe and Mingo Central.
“We are playing good teams. We have played a bunch of good teams,” Blevins said. “Our schedule is as tough as anybody’s and it is going to get tougher. We are really working hard to get better though.”
Blackburn led all scorers with 24 points, while Cameron scored 14 and Lusk had 10. Lilly paced the Bobcats with 18 points.
WE: 21 10 15 18 – 64
SC: 7 13 7 10 – 37
Wyoming East
Cadee Blackburn 24, Kyndal Lusk 10, Abi Baker 8, Alivia Monroe 1, Gabby Cameron 14, Rylee Brown 7.
Summers County
Avery Lilly 18, Abby Persinger 7, Hadley Bennett 3, Jaelynn Boone 4, Carly Persinger 6.
