CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Class A No. 1 Gilmer County had a tough time shaking No. 5 Ritchie County for much of Thursday’s state semifinal at the Charleston Coliseum.
But the Titans were never deterred and made the necessary plays throughout the second half to never trail over the final two quarters and move within one victory of repeating as state champion with a 52-43 victory.
GCHS (24-2) will face No. 3 St. Marys in Saturday’s Class A final.
“It feels good. Not very many programs get this opportunity, so it’s once-in-a lifetime,” Titans’ coach Amy Chapman said. “It’s surreal.”
After falling behind 7-2, the Titans got a three-pointer from Lena Frymier as part of a 5-0 spurt to close the first quarter.
Frymier left for good with an apparent ankle injury 6 seconds into the second quarter, but the Titans responded to their 10-9 deficit with an 8-2 run to go on top for good. Laura Brannon had separate buckets to account for half of the total during that spurt, and the Titans settled for a 21-18 halftime lead.
“It’s adversity and you have to learn how to respond,” Chapman said. “That next player has to be ready to make an impact. We hate that for Lena. It’s a heartbreaker. It happens and it’s part of the game sometimes.”
Six-foot-4 center Ava Dobbins led Gilmer with eight points, while Kenley Hartshorn came off the bench to grab seven rebounds through the first two quarters.
Emily Bush paced Ritchie (16-8) with seven points in the first half, and despite shooting 6 for 22 through the first two quarters, the Rebels were within one possession.
“There are a lot of teams that didn’t expect to see us getting this far based on some of the regional seedings, but I knew what we had,” Ritchie coach David McCullough said. “These girls weren’t going to give up. They were going to battle to show their capabilities. You saw that tonight.”
Rebels’ guard Elsa Law made a three to tie the contest at 23 less than 2 minutes into the third quarter, but the Titans countered with perhaps the most pivotal stretch of the outing — an 11-0 run over 3:03. During that stretch, Hartshorn scored seven points and Brannon and Dobbins each added a basket.
“In the second half we started getting into a rhythm and getting some easy ones,” Chapman said.
Law’s three with 30 seconds in the quarter cut the RCHS deficit to 36-29 entering the fourth and made it a nine-point period for the standout guard, who was held to four points in the first half.
“She hit some tough shots on us,” Chapman said. “We wanted to make her shoot contested ones. She didn’t get too many easy ones, but she’s such a good player and she can knock those down.”
Gilmer maintained separation for the majority of the fourth quarter and had a 47-36 lead when Paige Sterns scored from close range with 3:06 to play, but the Rebels didn’t give in easily.
Instead, Law made a three at the 2:51 mark, and when Abbigayl Cox converted a layup off a Titans’ turnover, it was a six-point game with 2:24 left.
“I’m proud of my girls,” McCullough said. “As you saw, they will fight until the end. That’s what I love about them.”
But the Titans kept their composure, handled pressure and made 3-of-4 free throws to increase the advantage to nine with 32 seconds remaining, ensuring they’d finish their season on the last possible day for a second straight year.
The Titans shot an efficient 20 for 41, had 11 turnovers and forced 18.
Dobbins scored a team-high 17 points and blocked five shots. She was also comfortably handling the ball, finishing or distributing to my teammates while the Titans faced pressure down the stretch.
“I learned early that I would have to step out of my comfort zone and dribble more than I was used to,” Dobbins said. “I learned to adjust quickly. In practice, we do a lot of drills against pressure and I knew if I didn’t step up, we’d have problems. Stepping up there has been a goal for me.”
Hartshorn added 15 points and 10 boards and Brannon scored nine points.
Law, a junior, led all players with 19 points and Bush scored 13 in the season-ending defeat.
“It makes me want to push a lot harder,” Law said. “I’m really glad we made it this far, but we can make it further. That’s definitely fuel for the fire for next year.”