CHARLESTON- Is there saying in basketball that says, ‘It’s hard to beat a team when they shoot 400 percent from the field’?
If not, there should be.
On Friday morning, March 14, the Greenbrier East Lady Spartans were locked in and ready to go, but the Wayne Lady Pioneers came out on fire from everywhere on the floor and held off East by a score of 69-57 in the state semifinals.
The Spartans, who shot pretty well themselves, hung tight until midway through the fourth quarter when Wayne began to slowly pull away.
It didn’t take long to see the game was going to be a fast-paced shootout as the first quarter brought plenty of fireworks early. MiKayla Stacy opened the scoring with a jumper, but East’s Kennedy Stewart answered right back with a 3. Another trifecta from Stacy gave Wayne a 6-5 advantage and they extended it to 9-5 after Brooke Adkins’ three-point play. A three-point play from the Pioneers’ Jay Sammons put Wayne up 14-7 and just when it looked like things were unraveling for the Spartans, Stewart knocked in another trey to keep it close. Seven points the rest of the way from Ava Workman and a big 3 from Sandy Banton highlighted the rest of the quarter for the Spartans and after one quarter of play, the score was tied at 24-all.
Wayne (21-4) scored the first five points of the second behind a triple from Sammons and a score from Stacy. Jada Waller then got on the scoreboard with a bucket, but another three from Sammons put the Pioneers ahead 32-26 with just over five minutes to play in the first half.
Workman’s 3 closed the gap and then two freebies from her brought East within one at 32-31. Then, a steal and score from Workman suddenly had East ahead 33-32 despite Wayne shooting lights out from the field. Unfortunately, the Pioneers weren’t done shooting just yet. They scored nine consecutive points on a 3 from Addie Adkins and two more from Lexi Blankenship and they closed the first half with a 41-33 lead at halftime.
Waller’s 3-pointer to open the second half kept the Spartans momentum in the right direction, but Wayne always seemed to have an answer. Br. Adkins scored the Pioneers’ next six points sandwiched with a Stewart basket in between, and midway through the third, Wayne still held a 48-38 lead.
A 3-ball from Blankenship gave Wayne their biggest lead of the game at 51-40, but two 3s from Banton and one by Stewart pulled the Spartans and their fans right back in as Wayne’s lead at the end of three was just 53-49.
But a 9-0 run to begin the fourth quarter put the proverbial nail in the Spartans coffin. No matter what East’s defense did, Wayne always came back with a tough, made shot. A 3 from Sammons made the score 62-49, Wayne, but Banton got it back to 10 with her fourth triple of the contest. East would trim the deficit to 62-54 with 4:18 left on a Mackenna McClure basket, but it was all Pioneers the rest of the way as they sealed their spot in the state title game on Saturday.
Workman led East with 16 points and seven rebounds. Stewart wrapped up 2025 with 13 points and five assists. Banton had a nice game with 12 points and nine boards and Waller added 10 for East.
Wayne shot 55 percent from downtown and was led by Sammons’ 23 points and seven assists. Br. Adkins, a Youngstown State commit, had 16 points and seven rebounds and Stacy finished with 14 points.
The Spartans season concludes at 24-2.
