Photo courtesy of Ashley Honaker
For years Region 3 has dominated Class AA.
Since the turn of the century the 14 Region 3 teams have won a state title with seven more having played in title games.
At different points the glory has belonged to James Monroe and Wyoming East with the latter winning titles in 2001 and ’02 while East has played in seven of the last nine Class AA title games. And while Region 3 opponents have met in the state tournament in a title game as recently as 2023, that won’t be the case this year.
East and James Monroe will to open what each hopes is a run to the title game when they face off Tuesday at 9 p.m. in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
Wyoming East, which was voted the No. 2 seed in the region, earned the No. 4 seed while James Monroe, the No. 1 seed in the region, earned the No. 5 seed in the state tournament.
Both teams are familiar with the biggest stage.
James Monroe broke a 20-year tournament absence last year when it made the Class A semifinals with a thrilling victory over Huntington St. Joe. Wyoming East comes in as the two-time defending state champion and winners of three of the last four Class AA titles.
James Monroe is familiar with the 4-5 matchup as that was the same slot it fell in last year. For Wyoming East this is the first time in this era the Lady Warriors have entered Charleston as anything less than a No. 2 seed.
But none of that matters now with both teams entering Tuesday’s contest with cause for optimism.
The two teams met twice this year, splitting their matchups. James Monroe took Round 1 55-50 in Lindside while East won 58-53 in New Richmond. But there’s only so much to pull from those matchups.
“If you’ve ever worked with a group of girls you just never know,” James Monroe head coach Angie Mann said on the Play Sheet Sports Podcast. “They could be completely confident one second and totally scared to death the next. I’m like (Wyoming East head coach Ryan Davidson), I talk to my girls a lot and just try to get them in that metal space in their heads as far as what they’ve done, what they’ve accomplished and what they continue to do. I feel like they are in a good space right now and much like Ryan, I feel like our teams have progressed throughout the season.”
Davidson, who’s been a part of the last three title runs for East agrees with Mann’s assessment. He knows the game changes when the lights are at their brightest.
“I think playing the two games in the regular season, sometimes you can get stuff out of it, sometimes you can’t,” Davidson said on the Play Sheet Sports Podcast. “It’s a different atmosphere and a different game. You’re always going to try and pull from those games and see what you can find that you can do better. For us – and I’m guilty if a lot of times I try to spend more time on us and focus on what we can do to get better. I think you can spend too much time on somebody else and forget who you are in the process. We know that we’re going to play somebody that’s really good.”
Each team is led by an ensemble cast.
Maggie Boroski, a first team all-stater a year ago, and Mya Dunlap, a breakout sophomore, each lead the Lady Mavericks with 18 ppg scoring average.
Cadee Blackburn is the scoring engine for Wyoming East, as a two-time first team all-stater that earned co-captain honors a year ago. Behind Blackburn Abi Baker is generally the go-to scorer but either of East’s next six players have proven capable of filling that role.
“There’s three in particular out there (that worry you),” Mann said. “But I want to say Cadee. Cadee can turn it on when she wants to and she’s a firecracker. But in the back of my head, as a player of basketball and a coach later on, I love watching (Kyndal) Lusk play. The defense from her, and I’m a defensive coach, I enjoy watching her play and she can be dangerous with that defense. And I’m all about the defense. Props to both of them.”
Davidson circles the obvious choices when preparing for James Monroe but has coached enough basketball to know every dog has their day.
“I think if you make the mistake of trying to stop one or two people then someone else if going to get you,” Davidson said. “I can say the obvious – Maggie, the Dunlap girls, but if you told me I could guard those three and someone else is not going to beat me I’d say you’re crazy. That’s a tough one. I really like her team a lot and if we don’t do our best to stop everybody, then somebody will beat us. And that’s the best way I can really put it.”
The winner of the game has one of the most difficult paths to the title game. They’ll first need to win Thursday then likely face the No. 1 seed in Wheeling Central in the state semis. But as both coaches will attest, winning titles isn’t easy.
“In order to win the state tournament this year – and I think the field is really, really good.” Davidson said. “I think anybody 1-6 can win the state championship this year. You better play three really good games starting Tuesday.”
