Girls Basketball: Wyoming East thrashes PikeView
Gallery by Karen Akers
When you set foot on the hardwood of Wyoming East High School, you know a storm is brewing.
The clouds cleared up early on Monday evening.
With 25 points in the first quarter, Class AA No. 1 buried Wyoming East AAA PikeView 75-36.
Before the matchup with the Panthers, the Varsity Warriors hosted an exhibition game with the Little Warrior basketball players in the community.
Wyoming East head coach Angie Boninsegna credited that spirited and fun time as key to victory.
“I think being around the little kids before the game actually gave us a lot of energy,” Boninsegna said. “They were energetic with the little kids and that kind of carried over into our game. After the quick start, we kept the pace and increased it a bit.”
Riley Meadows gave PikeView their only lead with an early stick back, but the Panthers never led again.
A PikeView turnover resulted in a bucket from Kayley Bane, leveling the game before Colleen Lookabill changed the lead for the only time of the night.
After another turnover, Lookabill converted the deuce on the other end and was fouled.
Lookabill’s old-school 3-point play and a strong drive from Maddie Clark for another result made it 7-2 just two minutes into the contest.
The Warriors led 9-5 and put a stranglehold on PikeView with a 14-0 run over the next four minutes.
Bane started the burst with two free throws and put down an offensive rebound from Alivia Monroe, who grabbed 16 boards in the game.
Maddie Clark got another turnover and Monroe extended the lead to 12 points with a nice cut at the rim.
A scoop layup by Clark, sandwiched between a sturdy turnaround jumper and a pull-up jumper by Bane, capped the blast and East never looked back.
Bane resembled an old-school player on Monday, consistently taking down the middle-class jumper and scoring 14 points.
“Kayley played smart and took some nice jump shots. I feel like she played her best game this year,” Boninsegna said. “She’s lethal in the area of the foul line. That’s their game.”
Clark finished Monday with 16 points, frustrating the Panthers with their ability to consistently drive downhill.
The junior guard, known for their defensive tenacity, has bolstered their offensive performance in the absence of state senior guard Abby Russell, who is currently injured.
“I just know now that I really need to step it up,” Clark said. “I want to help this team get to Charleston and I will do everything I can on both sides of the ball to make that happen.”
After Russell dropped out, Boninsegna also saw Clark more in a leadership role.
“Maddie’s first step is incredibly quick, especially going to the basket. It’s beautiful to look at,” Boninsegna said. “She also took a lot of the leadership. We give her more responsibility and she does a really good job.”
A bucket from Haley Justice snatched the run, but when Clark scored again on a scoop layup the lead was 25-7 after a quarter.
“We just wanted to play faster. We’ve covered the last few games,” Clark said. “We play better quickly, so we really wanted to push the ball up and go straight on our offense. We really wanted to be on their heels on the defensive.”
In the second verse, the Warriors could not build on the goal performance of the first eight minutes, but when the half-time horn sounded, the lead was 22 points.
“I don’t think we had a good start, a good end or a good middle. At this point in our season, I’m pretty disappointed with the way we’ve been playing everywhere,” lamented PikeView head coach Tracy Raban. “I wanted to at least come here and compete. I just didn’t think we had energy, enthusiasm or heart.”
A little over a week after Russell’s fall, Boninsegna was pleased with her team’s reaction.
“We’ll get better and see each other. We must do this as a unit. We had three players in double figures tonight and we’ll need that,” said Boninsegna. “Laken Toler came in and played well. Abi Baker defends us well and scored a couple of goals tonight. If she can insult us on top of her defense, that’s great.”
Wyoming East is back in action on Friday when it hosts Class AAA #5 Nitro in the Battle for the Springhouse tournament at The Greenbrier.
PikeView appears to be recovering when Westside takes place Thursday.
PR: 7 10 6 13 – 36
WED: 25 14 15 21 – 75
PikeView
Brooke Craft 3, Cat Farmer 4, Jaelynn Shrewsbury 6, Haley Justice 5, Jocelyn Hall 2. Emma Damewood 4, Riley Meadows 12.
Wyoming East
Colleen Lookabill 3, Maddie Clark 16, Kayley Bane 14, Cadee Blackburn 16, Laken Toler 5, Abi Baker 6, Alivia Monroe 4, Charleigh Price 6, Kenna Price 5.
3-hand – PV: 2 (Justice, Meadows); WE: 3 (Blackburn 2, Toler)
