CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Should Class AA No. 2 Wyoming East play defense in Saturday’s championsip game the way it has in its first two contests at the state tournament, the Warriors will have a great chance to cut down the nets.
One day after holding Bridgeport to 31 points in a quarterfinal, Wyoming East limited No. 3 Wayne to 23 percent shooting from the field to record a 54-29 victory that puts the Warriors into the Class AA title game for a second straight season and third time in four years.
“We went to a zone a little bit in the second half and really had to be aware of where their guards were,” Warriors coach Angie Boninsegna said. “A couple times in the first half, we left them open and they shoot well.
“Our press disrupted their flow a little bit. Overall, I was pleased with the defensive effort.”
Wyoming East will face No.1 Fairmont Senior in Saturday’s title game at 2:30 p.m.
Both teams got off to sluggish offensive starts and the Warriors (24-3) settled for a 4-2 lead after one quarter.
The pace picked up in the second quarter, with the Pioneers (23-4) tying the game at 8 on consecutive 3s from Lakyn Adkins and Whitney Sansom.
After Wyoming East’s 6-foot-4 center Emily Saunders accounted for back-to-back baskets, Sansom made another triple to close Wayne’s deficit to one.
But Saunders answered with a 3 and Warriors’ guard Jazz Blankenship scored six straight points to put the Warriors up 10, before another triple from Sansom allowed the Pioneers to close to within 21-14 at halftime.
“We were trying to be very positive at halftime,” Boninsegna said. “We did play a bad first half, but it was over so we focused on what we needed to do to get things.”
Wayne got as close as five on two occasions in the third quarter, the last of which was 25-20 after another 3 by Sansom at the 6:14 mark of the third quarter.
From that point forward, it was all Warriors, who allowed only four more field goals the rest of the way, while Katie Brooke Russell and Katie Daniels each scored five points in the third quarter to help Wyoming East take a 33-22 lead into the fourth.
“They were leaving me wide open and had everyone else covered,” Daniels said. “I had to step up and be where I needed to be.”
When Daniels made a 3 with 4:21 remaining in the contest, it upped the Warriors’ lead to 43-28, and Wyoming East outscored Wayne 11-1 the rest of the way to win comfortably.
“We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well,” Wayne coach Wade Williamson said. “We weren’t able to get into much rhythm offenisvely. To our credit, we battled. We were a little overmatched on the inside.”
Daniels scored 12 of her team-high 14 points after halftime, while Saunders finished with nine points, eight rebounds and seven blocks.
“Emily is such a force in there,” Boninsegna said. “Not only does she block shots, she alters shots and that was they to our defense today.”
Blankenship added 12 points and eight steals, while Skylar Davidson contributed six points and seven assists.
Sansom led Wayne with 12 points on four 3s, but she was the team’s only double figure scorer.
Twenty-seven of the Pioneers’ 47 field-goal attempts were from beyond the 3-point line.
“It’s hard to get to the basket and get easy shots against them,” Williamson said, “and we didn’t get very many of them.”