By GARY DOVE
for the Daily Telegraph
BRADSHAW — The Wyoming East Lady Warriors broke an early 2-2 deadlock with a dozen unanswered points and 18 of the final 21 of the first period Saturday afternoon en route to an 84-46 victory over the host River View Raiders.
That win vaults the Lady Warriors’ unblemished slate to 9-0. East finished last season with a loss in the Class AA semifinals.
Sophomore all-state guard Gabby Lupardus scored 8 of her 20 points in that initial frame, while 6-4 freshman Emily Saunders added eight points of her own in the first eight minutes.
Saunders started the scoring with an inside bucket that was matched by a deuce by the Lady View’s Brittany Rowe, also a ninth grader, for the early tie.
Lupardus acted as a catalyst to put the East offense into gear, scoring six of the next eight points, and giving the transition game a boost.
Where the Lady Warrior fast break was showcased in the inaugural eight minutes, a shooting exhibition opened the second quarter, as freshman Jazz Blankenship came off the bench to can her first four shot tries of that chapter, including three of the four from 3-point range.
Blankenship finished the contest with 23 points to claim game scoring honors, with five of her nine baskets from outside the 3-point line. Lupardus closed with 20 points, plus 10 assists and six steals. Saunders had six blocked shots. Haley Butcher had 10 rebounds.
In that second period, Blankenship finished with 14 points and Lupardus 9, as East took a 45-21 advantage at the break.
The Lady Warriors outgunned River View 39-25 in the second half for the win.
East played all 15 players who dressed, with 11 breaking into the scoring column.
River View played without senior captain Rebekah Christian, who sustained a knee injury earlier in the week in the Jerry Bradley Memorial Tournament against Green-brier East and is lost for the remainder of the season.
The Lady Raiders battled gamely, but were just outnumbered by the Lady Warriors’ depth.
Junior Katie Dobbs paced the Lady Raiders with 11 points, followed by sophomore Kiersten Roberts’ nine markers. River View (7-3) was led by nine rebounds each from Roberts, Dobbs and junior Lindsay Meade.
Remarked East head coach Angie Boninsegna, “You could tell we’ve had a little bit of a layoff. Our last game was the 20th (of December) and it took us a little while to get in sync.”
The Lady Warriors will travel to Woodrow Wilson Monday evening.
“East is the best team in the state, in any class,” assessed Lady Raider head coach Gehrig Justice. “The biggest thing for us right now is to get over the fear of playing really good people, and I think we took a step in that direction today,” he continued.
“I was pleased with a lot of things we did good. ... The effort was there.”
River View will visit Mount View Wednesday evening.
At Bradshaw
WYOMING EAST (9-0)
Gabby Lupardus 6 6-9 20, Megan Davis 2 0-2 4, Misa Quesenberry 1 0-0 2, Emily Saunders 4 0-0 8, Allie Lusk 1 2-4 4, Jazz Blankenship 9 0-0 23, Haley Butcher 3 1-2 7, Katie Daniels 2 1-1 5, Kyndl Johnson 2 2-2 6, Kelsey Green 1 0-0 2, Katlen Francis 1 1-2 3. Totals 32 13-22 84.
RIVER VIEW (7-3)
Kiersten Roberts 1 7-8 9, Emily Golden 1 1-2 4, Paige Cooper 2 2-2 7, Lakyn Lambert 1 0-0 3, Lindsay Meade 4 0-0 8, Brittany Rowe 1 0-1 2, Brianna Bailey 1 0-0 2, Katie Dobbs 3 5-15 11. Totals 14 15-28 46.
Wyoming East.........20 25 20 19 — 84
River View............5 16 7 18 — 46
3-point goals — WE 7 (Blankenship 5, Lupardus 2). RV 3 (Golden 1, Cooper 1, Lambert 1). Fouled out — RV, Meade.