NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The talk coming into the Clairton vs. Redbank Valley PIAA Class 2A girls’ first-round game was about Iyanna Wade, the Clairton superstar guard.
Wade, the diminutive guard, who entered the game having scored over 1,000 points this season and over 2,000 in her career while averaging 43.5 ppg this season, didn’t disappoint scoring 39 points.
“We worked all week trying to limit her, but she got her points tonight,” Redbank Valley head coach Chris Edmonds said. “We went box-and-one, we stayed in our two-three, and towards the end, we went man. (She) sure did take over the game. We tried to limit her touches, but she still found the ball. She is a great player.”
Wade was at her best when her team needed her the most.
After blowing a 12-point halftime lead, 36-24, the Lady Bears (20-6), the sixth-place team out of the WPIAL, found themselves down, 49-46, following an Izzy Bond 3-pointer for D9 champion Redbank Valley (20-6) with 4:28 to play.
That’s when Wade took over scoring all nine points during a game-ending 9-2 run that lifted Clairton to the victory.
“She’s special,” Clairton assistant coach Andre Wiggins, who was the acting head coach for the game after head coach Carlton Wade, Iyanna’s dad, was ejected following Clairton’s WPIAL fifth-place game loss to Rochester on Feb. 27 and had to sit out because of PIAA rules. “She’s very good, but the good thing is, she has a lot to work on. That’s the best thing. She has so much more to improve. The sky is the limit for her. She gives effort. She is a talent. She’s one generational talent, for sure.”
Wade made it a one-point game with a basket with 2:21 to play but failed to tie it on the and-one. She missed another and-one after giving the Lady Bears the lead, 50-49, with another bast with 1:46 to go and then made it 52-49 with another bucket with 1:10 to go.
Wade, who missed another free throw with 41 seconds left, then hit three free throws to seal the victory.
“I am very proud,” Wiggins said. “We hold our hats on defending well, playing hard and aggressive. We may not be the best offensive team in the league, but we play hard on defense. I think that is how we win games. We always preach sitting down on the ball and defending. That is how we win.”
The last two charity shots, which came with 10.8 seconds to play, came after Redbank Valley couldn’t take care of a golden opportunity to tie or win the game.
Trailing 53-49, Kira Bonanno, who had a team-best 15 points, scored on an inbounds pass to make it 53-51 with 26.7 seconds left.
Then, as Edmonds was running out into the hallway at the far end of the gym to call timeout, Clairton accidentally inbounded the ball without outbounding the ball first meaning it was Redbank Valley ball with just over 20 seconds left.
The Lady Bulldogs got a good look from Izzy Bond, who had hit three 3-pointers in the game, from the right corner to give them the lead.
Her shot was a little strong, but Bonanno, who had a double-double with 11 rebounds, got the rebound. Her putback, however, was off the mark with Clairton getting the rebound.
“Yeah, we got the shot, it didn’t go in,” Edmonds said. “We got the rebound and missed the putback. We got the look we wanted to get.”
Down 12 at halftime, Redbank Valley went to Bonanno in the third quarter to get within three, 38-35, thanks to seven straight points from the junior forward.
But the Lady Bulldogs, who were still down seven, 44-37, couldn’t get her the ball consistently after that.
“I thought we could have gotten the ball into her a little bit more,” Edmonds said. “I thought we panicked a little bit. We had their bigs in foul trouble early in the game, we just couldn’t find Kira tonight.”
Redbank Valley, though, was able to get some uptempo play going to take its first lead since 6-5 early in the game.
A bucket by Mylee Harmon, who was held to 14 points and finished her junior season averaging 19.0 ppg, started a 12-2 run to start the quarter.
But then Wade took over, and the Lady Bulldogs’ season came to an end earlier than they had hoped.
“I think it was a great season,” Edmonds said. “You always want to win a KSAC and a District championship and see what you can do in the playoffs. Clairton is a good team. They had a lot of speed. Wade is a great player. We have a young club. We only lose one player, Izzy. Izzy will be very difficult to replace her leadership, her basketball ability. But, we are looking forward to getting started again.”
Izzy Bond chipped in 11 points.
Keira Brown added 10 points for Clairton, including hitting a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers.
Clairton faces Bishop McCort, a 61-55 winner over Serra Catholic, in the second round on Tuesday.
“In high school, I had the same things,” Wiggins said. “I was a starter for basketball for West Mifflin in 2002. We went to Hershey (where the state championships are played). We had the same road we have to do. We had to beat the No. 1 team in the state and went all the way to Hershey where we unfortunately lost in the state championship. But we had the same role. Once we get a rhythm, nothing can stop us. We can do whatever we want to do. We can get a rhythm, and we are in that rhythm right now.”
CLAIRTON 55, REDBANK VALLEY 51
Scores by Quarter
Clairton 20 16 8 11 – 55
Redbank 18 6 13 14 – 51
CLAIRTON – 55
Kevionna Jones 0 0-0 0, Keira Brown 4 0-0 10, Jamiya Childs 0 0-0 0, Iyanna Wade 15 7-10 39, Maria Carpentar 1 0-0 2, Karma Fuqua 2 909 4m Reyonne Williams 0 0-0 0, Kyzyah Jamison 0 0-0 0. Tamia Gross 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 7-10 55.
REDBANK VALLEY – 51
Kira Bonanno 6 3-4 15, Addy Bond 3 0-0 6, Elaina Carrico 2 0-0 5, Izzy Bond 4 0-0 11, Mylee Harmon 5 4-6 13, Hadlee Hagan 0 0-0 0, Addy Hetrick 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-10 51.
Three-pointers: Clairton 4 (Brown 2, Wade 2). Redbank Valley 4 (Izzy Bond 3, Carrico 1).
