By Rich Stevens
A golden opportunity slipped through the fingers of the Sissonville High School girls basketball team.
Turns out, it was one that Wyoming East guard Gabby Lupardus didn’t miss.
The sophomore scored six points in the second quarter and the Warriors held off an anticipated Indians’ surge, surviving for a 51-46 win over the defending Class AA champions at the 2016 West Virginia girls high school state basketball tournament on Friday.
Wyoming East, which dropped a one-point decision to Sissonville (24-3) in last year’s semifinals, lost 6-foot-3 forward Emily Saunders with 6:38 left in the second quarter after she picked up her second and third fouls in a span of 53 seconds.
“That was huge,” Sissonville coach Rich Skeen said. “We didn’t attack the way I thought we should. We didn’t attack the rim. They knew they couldn’t get to the rim (with Saunders in the game). When she was out, I don’t know if we settled for open jumpers. Probably should’ve attacked the rim a little bit more.”
In 24 minutes, Saunders managed 18 rebounds and three blocked shots, but it was her 18 rebounds – including seven of Wyoming East’s 24 offensive boards – that helped dictate the outcome.
“She has really controlled the middle for us,” Wyoming East coach Angie Boninsegna said. “And our bench has been incredible. Kara (Sandy) came in and played a huge third quarter for us.”
Sandy had all nine of Wyoming East’s bench points and chipped in four rebounds.
While Sissonville climbed back from an eight-point deficit with 2:59 left to cut it to two in the final 1:05, those key moments of the second quarter loomed large in the senior-dominated Indians’ quest for back-to-back state championships.
Sissonville led 18-14 when Saunders left the game, but scored only five points in the next six minutes and only led 26-23 at halftime.
“We had early foul trouble and our other girls really stepped it up,” Boninsegna said. “I was surprised (Sissonville) didn’t take more advantage of (Saunders being out). We’re an aggressive defense, but that surprised me.”
Sissonville had just 13 field goals and was 6-19 from 3-point range. Its all-time leading scorer, Madison Jones, hit only 1-14 shots.
Boninsegna attributed part of the victory to depth, with Wyoming East using seven players for at least 10 minutes each and none playing the whole game. Sissonville’s Jones, Karli Pinkerton and Brooke Reed didn’t leave the game.
Lupardus finished with 20 points five rebounds and four assists, while Sandy’s nine points was eight more than Sissonville received from its bench.
Pinkerton led Sissonville with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds and Reed finished with 13 points.
Wyoming East makes its first appearance in the state title game when it faces the winner Fairmont Senior – last year’s runner-up – in the championship game at noon on Saturday.
