CHARLESTON, W.Va. — For the first time in West Virginia boys basketball history Chapmanville Regional High School in Logan County made it to the state tournament. In fact, they played the 101st tournament’s very first game Wednesday, matched up against Bluefield.
There was one fan in the crowd who garnered a lot of attention. The 1970 graduate of Chapmanville High who sat right behind the scoring table was none other than Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
“Bluefield is a great school but I guess I am a little partial to my school,” said Tomblin.
He wasn’t alone in cheering on the team.
“Offense, Tigers Offense!”
Dozens of students were in the cheering section rooting on their team. Sarah Shumate was on the front row dressed in Chapmanville orange and black.
“We made history doing this. This is our first time getting to states and the town has backed us up so well,” she said. “It’s just an exciting time to get to come up here!”
But from the start it was tough going. Bluefield is the defending AA state champions and the Beavers played like it Wednesday with an impressive 63-34 win over the Tigers.
Gov. Tomblin was still optimistic at halftime but it wasn’t meant to be.
“Well….it doesn’t look real good right now but there’s always the second half!”
Shumate said she was still proud of the team and traveling to Charleston for the state tournament is something she’ll never forget.
“It’s great that they got this far. We love it either way!”
For their first tournament berth fans said the Chapmanville Tigers did their town and governor proud.