By DAN STILLWELL
for the Daily Telegraph
CHARLESTON — As expected, a freshman took the go-ahead shot in the Class AA state semifinal between No. 1 Wyoming East and No. 4 Sissonville.
But it wasn't East's stellar point guard Gabby Lupardus.
Nor was it Lady Warriors' wing Kara Sandy, who put 30 points on Bluefield Wednesday, or teammates Ally Lusk or Misa Quesenberry.
It was the other talented freshman on the floor, Sissonville guard Mikayla Long, who made the shot of the game to propel the Lady Indians to a 55-54 victory Thursday at the Charleston Civic Center.
Few expected Long to take the shot. One of Sissonville's two junior standouts, Madison Jones, had fouled out after scoring 15 points. But the other, Karli Pinkerton, had scored 20 and was floating around on the perimeter.
Long, who finished with 13 points and hit three 3s, got open on the right side of the key and drilled a trey fwith 40.5 seconds remaining. The shot capped off an 8-0 run that erased a 50-43 deficit.
"It was nothing we drew up," coach Rick Skeens said. "We just hung in there."
Sissonville (23-3) later got four foul shots from Pinkerton and center Brooke Reed, but it was Long's beautiful arcing shot that was the arrow through the heart of Wyoming East (21-2), whose freshmen class has lost just two game in the past four seasons.
Even Long was surprised.
"I don't remember anything about that shot," she said. "We didn't play good as a team in the first half, but we picked it up."
Wyoming East coach Angie Boninsegna said her team wasn't playing bad defense during the late run.
"Give credit to Sissonville. They hit some clutch shots and we came up a little short."
Neither team had shot well in the first half, won 25-22 by Wyoming East. Lupardus had scored six points to Sandy's 5, while Pinkerton had 14 for Sissonville.
"They were all over me and Gabby," Sandy said. "They were watching the three and watching our penetration, trying to stop our offense."
A slow third quarter saw the Lady Warriors add another point to its lead, 33-30, but both teams ignited in the fourth quarter. East couldn't stop Sissonville's outside shooting, but was keeping ahead thanks to a fine transition game.
With the score knotted at 43, Allie Lusk made a stickback, Lupardus sank two foul shots and Sandy scored on the break and hit 1 of 2 foul shots to give East its biggest lead, 50-43 with 2:29 left to play.
Undaunted, Sissonville got a jumper from Brooke Reed and two foul shots from Long.
Both teams were called for inbounds violations down the stretch, and following a timeout, Long buried the three that made it 51-50.
"Mikayla has come a long way. Karli missed a month at the beginning of the season (injured) and Mikayla started a few games. Honestly, she wasn't ready," Skeens said. "She didn't start again until late January, and she's been in the lineup ever since. She's gotten better and better."
East still had its chance, but Pertee's shot from the paint wouldn't fall and the Lady Warriors were called for a turnover.
Pinkerton made it a three-point lead with two foul shots with 13.4 seconds remaining. Lupardus got one of the back, but Reed put the final nail in East's coffin by going 2 for 2 at the line with 4.1 seconds showing on the clock.
Lupardus raced downcourt and fired in a three at the buzzer for the final points of the game.
She finished with 27 points and six steals. "I'm sorry for our seniors," she said. "We'll win it next time. I don't ever want to feel like this again."
Sandy scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Pertee hauled in 13 rebounds and scored five points. Lusk grabbed eight rebounds and Haley Butcher had seven.
It was the final game for Pertee, Wyoming East's standout the past three seasons, Chiara Jewell and Kaci Mullins.
"I couldn't be more proud of my team. They're my family," she said. "They got me here, and I expect them to be here again next year."
Boninsegna told her team to be proud of what it had accomplished.
"The season has been wonderful. We were one point away from the state championship game," she said. "In my mind, we are going out as champions."
Sissonville will play Fairmont Senior today in the AA championship game.
"These girls are the most competitive people I've been around," Skeens said.

At Charleston Civic Center
SISSONVILLE (23-3)
Brooke Reed 2-3 3-4 7, Karli Pinkerton 6-19 7-8 20, Madison Jones 5-25 1-4 15, Mikayla Long 4-13 2-2 13, Ellie McClung 0-1 0-0 0, Reagan Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Lexy Haynes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-61 13-18 55.
WYOMING EAST (20-2)
Kara Sandy 3-9 4-6 10, Megan Davis 1-5 2-2 5, Bre Pertee 2-9 1-4 5, Gabby Lupardus 9-26 8-11 27, Haley Butcher 1-5 1-2 3, Misa Quesenberry 0-1 0-0 0, Chiara Jewell 0-0 -0 0, Allie Lusk 1-3 2-2 4. Totals: 17-58 18-27 54.
Sissonville..................12 11 7 25 — 55
Wyoming East............11 14 8 21 — 54
3-point goals: S: 8-23 (Pinkerton 1-5, Jones 4-10, Long 3-8); WE: 2-8 (Sandy 0-1, Davis 1-2, Lupardus 1-5). Fouled out: S (Jones). Rebounds: S 46 (Reed 17, McClung 9), WE 46 (Pertee 13, Butcher 7).