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Oak Hill – Motivated by a layoff and a perception of disrespect, Wyoming East came out guns blazing.
Or (Black)burning.
Wyoming East all-stater Cadee Blackburn further etched her name in school history Friday night, canning 11 3-pointers en route to a school-record 43 points in a 91-38 victory at Oak Hill.
Blackburn, who had come close to breaking the record with a 37-point showing against Mingo Central last season, toppled the mark of 39 points shared by Garrett Mitchell (2022-23), Cole Lambert (2023-24) and Jason Blankenship (1998-99).
A layup in the final two minutes gave Blackburn the record at 40 and a 3 at the buzzer topped her night. She finished 14 of 23 from the field – 11 of 17 from beyond the arc – adding seven assists on the evening.
“I’ve been trying to get that record for three years,” Blackburn, a two-time first team all-stater said. “After I see the first one go in, I usually feel good, but after you see two, or three, it’s like, you feel really good, so I felt really good.”
Blackburn’s performance was an indicator of the health of East’s offense all evening. The Lady Warriors shot 52 Percent (34 of 65) from the field, 54 percent from downtown (14 of 26) and assisted on 24 of their 34 made field goals. It came on the heels of the announcement that East, the two-time defending Class AA state champion, had been voted No. 2 in the regional seedings on Thursday.
It was exactly what Wyoming East head coach Ryan Davidson hoped to see after a 15-day layoff.
“When we’ve been able to practice, I think they’ve practiced extremely hard,” Davidson said. “And I’ll be honest with you, right now, we’re carrying a massive sized chip on our shoulder. We feel like we’ve been disrespected quite honestly, and I’m fine with saying that. We’re gonna wear that thing for as long as we can. You put us as a two seed and we’re gonna wear it.”
From the jump the Lady Warriors got what they wanted.
Abi Baker opened the game with a layup before Blackburn added her first two 3s to make it 8-0. Addy Isaacs put the Red Devils on the board with a pair of free throws but the lead continued to swell, reaching 16-4 on Blackburn’s third 3 of the quarter.
When the dust settled on the opening frame, East held a 22-8 advantage. The Red Devils struggled to keep pace, unable to find the bottom of the net. They finished 1 of 9 from the field in the opening frame, a struggle that marginally ticked upwards as they shot just 27 percent (13 of 48) from the field in the game.
“The main struggles were they sped us up and we didn’t run no offense,” Oak hill head coach Darrell Compton said. “ We just kind of stood, passed and shot and it was just very stagnant.”
Blackburn cooled in the second quarter, producing four points for 16 at the break but dished three assists to help East to a comfortable 46-13 lead. She doubled her scoring output adding 16 more in the third quarter for 32 total heading into the fourth. After nailing a 3 late, she sat at 38 points taking a rebound pass from Alivia Monroe in transition for the record-breaking layup that made it 86-36.
Unaware of how many points she had, Blackburn threw a final 3 up at the buzzer, assuming it was the shot that set the new mark.
“It’s funny, we’ve kind of joked about that for a couple of years, that I thought she was the one that could get it,” Davidson said. “When she starts really feeling it, like, that sucker goes in in bunches. You could see kind of early, and I even said at the end of the third quarter, I said, ‘If we run this set, she knocks it down, we’ll let her see if she’ll get it.’ And she hit it. But I think the most impressive thing was the fact that she had a chance to break the record, and she knew it, and she made a pass to a girl cutting down the lane and that meant more to me than any shot she’d made all night. That told me that we’re doing the right things as a group.”
Abi Baker (10), Alivia Monroe (13) and Gabby Cameron (12) joined Blackburn in double figures with Cameron grabbing 10 rebounds.
Addy Isaacs led Oak Hill with 27 points.
WE: 22 24 22 23 – 91
OH: 8 5 13 12 – 38
Wyoming East
Cadee Blackburn 43, Abi Baker 10, Kyndal Lusk 7, Alivia Monroe 13, Gabby Cameron 12, Rylee Brown 6
Oak Hill
Taysia Gray 2, Addy Isaacs 27, Ali Williams 2, Natalie Craddock 3, Jada Wilburn 1, Danielle PArsons 1, Kasy Compton
