Two weeks ago Wyoming East’s season appeared to be heading towards a disappointing finish.
After losing their sectional championship at home, the Lady Warriors hit the road and were lying on the mat in the second half against Chapmanville in a regional co-final.
And then it clicked.
With their season on the line they found the push they needed in the second Half, rallied from a five-point deficit and secured a seven-point win.
Now the team is back on the biggest stage in the state, one it’s comfortable with. East has played for the last two state championships, winning it all in 2021. In total the program has played in all but one Class AA title game dating back to 2016, a remarkable run of success, but the approach doesn’t change. During that span the program has won two titles.
“We approach it one game at a time,” East head coach Angie Boninsegna said. “We’re not looking past Ravenswood and hopefully our experience will help us in the long run.”
The Devilettes of Ravenswood are the first obstacle in East’s way of returning to Saturday, one the Lady Warriors don’t have much history with. The two teams will meet on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
“They do a lot of movement,” Boninsegna said. “They do a lot of screening and have a couple good shooters.”
Hadleigh McGoskey leads Ravenswood (13-10) with an average of 23.6 points per game. A talented scorer,, she’s accumulated over 500 points this season and shoots 85 percent from the free throw line. She’s flanked by Emily Wratchford who averages 10.6 points per game and leads the team with 6.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game.
East boasts an array of contributors, each with their own strengths.
Sophomore guard Cadee Blackburn leads the way with an average of 16.4 points per game while Maddie Clark, the team’s best athlete, averages 13.1 points per game. Seniors Abby Russell and Kayley Bane have been first-team all-state and all-tournament players in past seasons and average 7.9 and 6.2 points per game.
For East to have success and extend its stay in Charleston, it will need to build upon the good things it did in Chapmanville – convert free throws late and score when the chips are down.
“Going down the stretch, other teams shot well from the free throw line and we didn’t,” Boninsegna said. “At Chapmanville we were able to connect and make those crucial foul shots. Sure, you can learn a lot after a loss and it makes you more focused. The seniors knew the possibility of their last game being in Chapmanville if they didn’t play well. It was a real physical game.”
The string of success has understandably created an environment where there’s pressure to win, but Boninsegna doesn’t want that to seep into the players’ heads.
“There’s pressure on the outside but we don’t really put it on ourselves,” she said. “You just have to go out there and play your game and settle down.”
This year’s team became the first under Boninsegna to take the program to three straight state tournaments. Attempts to make it three straight tournament berths in 2017 and 2020 were derailed after losses in the sectional championship and later in road regional games, so this year’s squad has already done a terrific job burying past demons.
The next obstacle they’ll hope to overcome is the program’s misfortunate in title games. They’re 2-3 on championship Saturday and no class in program history has ever won two titles. This year’s group of juniors and seniors have a chance to reverse that trend and become the first group with a set of rings.
“The last six or eight years we’ve been blessed to be up there,” Boninsegna said. “Every team is different but we don’t put any pressure on ourselves. We want to play on that final Saturday and win but we can’t look past that first game.”
