CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Gilmer County dethroned seven-time defending Class A girls basketball state champion St. Joseph Central 42-41 on Saturday afternoon, ending one of the most dominant dynasties in West Virginia high school basketball history.
St. Joe (21-4) was going for an eighth straight title, which would have tied the Northfork boys basketball team’s eight straight titles from 1974-1981.
“I don’t even know how to say this, it’s surreal,” said Gilmer County coach Amy Chapman. “That’s a great program, so to come up here and compete against a great program with the type of players they have and come out with a win, it’s amazing. It makes that victory feel even more special.”
It’s the first girls basketball state championship for Gilmer County (25-2) in school history.
“It feels awesome and I’ve had confidence in my team all year to do this,” said Gilmer County junior guard Kylie Shuff. “We’ve played together our whole lives to do this.”
For St. Joe, it was the first in-state loss since 2008 when the Irish fell in the Class A title game to Wheeling Central.
“I felt pressure and I think the kids might have felt a little bit of it,” said St. Joe coach Shannon Lewis. “I definitely felt the pressure all week, more so than I had probably in any other tournament.
“When the game is tight, kids are going to get nervous regardless and they were playing for a championship,” he continued. “We’ve been loose all year, but up here we just seemed a little tight for the tournament. That pressure has been building all year.”
Shuff finished with 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting, leading the charge for the Titans in the second half comeback.
“We just had to get some points,” Shuff said. “I was tired (in the second half), but it’s the last game of the season and I was going to give it all that I had. We were down, so I was going to just try as hard as I could.”
St. Joe led 27-15 at the break, but Gilmer County outscored the Irish 18-7 in the third behind Shuff to cut St. Joe’s lead down to 35-34 heading to the fourth.
A layup from Riley Fitzwater at the 7:51 mark of the fourth gave the Titans a 35-34 advantage. The Irish, though, responded with six straight points to retake the lead at 40-35 and 5:59 left.
But that didn’t kill the Titans’ momentum.
“I remembered that St. Marys (Friday) was down by even more than we were (to St. Joe),” Fitzwater said. “St. Marys was able to come back. I just believed in my team and myself.”
With 1:20 to go, a layup from Shuff pulled the Titans within two, 40-38. A 3 from Emilie Jedamski at the 1:03 mark gave Gilmer County the 41-40 advantage, erupting the Titans’ crowd.
“I knew that we needed to get a quick shot to catch back up to them,” Jedamski said. “I shot and it went in. Once I make one, I’m pretty good after that.”
Jedamski went 2 for 9 on the day, both of those makes (and all attempts) from 3, including that critical shot late.
“I could tell the look on her face that she was on,” Chapman said. “I knew when the ball left her hand that it was in. When she has confidence, she’s a scary kid.”
The Irish missed their final nine shots from the floor as the Titans contained St. Joe’s Tyesha Taylor down the stretch. It was Fitzwater, who scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and collected seven blocks, taking over the inside defensively in those closing minutes and on the offensive boards.
“I was a little bit intimidated by her size,” Fitzwater said of Taylor. “But I knew that I had a much bigger height difference. Once I finally realized that she wasn’t going to block me, I started doing a little better.”
After a made free throw for both teams, Alexis Hall’s potential game-winner for St. Joe in the closing seconds was off, sparking pandemonium on the floor and in the stands.
“We’re extremely happy right now and I’m really happy for these girls, they played their hearts out and never stopped believing,” Chapman said. “The crowd was behind us and we’re just thrilled to death right now.”
The game will air on TV on Root Sports Monday night (March 14) at 6 p.m. The complete broadcast can also be found online, here.