CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The buy-in from St. Marys girls basketball team enhanced the Blue Devils’ chances for success.
Through execution and an ability to persevere, St. Marys is leaving Charleston with its first state championship in 36 years.
The No. 3 Blue Devils outscored No. 1 Gilmer County by six points in the second quarter to play from in front and made the necessary plays down the stretch to maintain separation and knock off the Titans, 45-35, at the Charleston Coliseum.
“We have good players, but the most important thing, they have hearts the size of basketballs,” St. Marys coach Fred King said. “Did you see them diving on the floor in the last minute of the game? Talent is one thing, but when you have girls that buy in the way they did, that helps.
“I didn’t have much to do with it. They bought into what we asked of them.”
A zone defense was pivotal to the success of St. Marys, which finished the season 23-4.
Gilmer (24-3) shot 13 for 48 and made eight two-point field goals in the matchup.
“Sometimes you have to pick your poison,” King said. “When you’re playing against 6-foot, 6-4 and 6-4, you better stay close to the basket.”
Although the defending state champion Titans limited turnovers to seven, they struggled to get the game at a pace to their liking in large part because the Blue Devils had only nine turnovers themselves.
“To dethrone them is an honor, because they earned what they had and we were able to find a way to win the war today,” King said.
Both teams picked up the pace offensively over the final few minutes of the first quarter, which finished with the matchup knotted at 10.
After Blue Devils’ standout Brynnley Bulluck broke a 12-all tie with a basket 5:18 before halftime, SMHS played from in front the rest of the way.
It also was the start of eight straight St. Marys points, six of which Bulluck scored and the other two courtesy of Laney Watkins.
Lena Frymier, who played all 32 minutes after suffering an ankle injury that caused her to leave the semifinal game for good, canned a triple late in the half that pulled the Titans to within five, and they faced a 22-16 halftime deficit.
“That speaks volumes about how she feels about this program and her teammates,” Gilmer coach Amy Chapman said.
Bulluck went to the break with 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field and 4 of 4 on free throws.
The Titans, meanwhile, were 5 for 23 overall and 2 for 12 on triples at the break.
“We figured they would pack it in a zone and try to force us to take perimeter shots and see how we were shooting,” Chapman said. “We couldn’t get in a rhythm consistently. We hit some big shots and climbed back into it and they seemed to always have an answer for our run.”
SMHS gained its first double figure advantage just before the midway point of the third quarter when Anna Bennett made a jumper for a 28-18 lead.
Gilmer countered with the next five points to cut its deficit in half, before Landrey Riggs answered with one of the more important baskets in the final — a three in the final minute of the third that allowed the Blue Devils to lead 31-23 with 8 minutes to play.
The Titans showed their championship mettle with a 7-0 run early in the fourth that allowed them to pull to within three. That stretch began with Laura Brannon’s triple and was followed by consecutive paint buckets from sisters Blair Dobbins and Ava Dobbins.
Bennett followed with a pivotal triple, and then answered Ava Dobbins’ layup with one of her own to leave King’s team on top 38-32 with 2:35 left.
Frymier connected from deep to cut the deficit in half, but St. Marys sealed the outcome with Lauren Pritchett’s layup and Watkins’ floater with 1:28 remaining that marked the start of the Blue Devils scoring the game’s last seven points.
The Blue Devils had lost four straight title games after winning in their first three appearances, the most recent of which was in 1990.
“Cohesiveness, heart, a lot of character and a lot of heart work, and guess what — state champions for the first time in 36 years,” King said.
“It’s a great honor. It’s great to rekindle the legacy that the girls put on for us,” Bulluck said. “We knew it was our time and we had the team, talent and heart to do it. We went out there and played our game.”
Bulluck led all players with 19 points despite attempting only six shots. She made 11-of-12 free throws and had six rebounds en route to being named the Most Valuable Player ion the Class A State Tournament.
“Free throws are free for a reason,” Bulluck said. “You have to make them. Especially if I have the confidence to go there into the tall girls and try to draw fouls against those taller girls, I have to come away with something and make them.”
Riggs and Bennett scored nine apiece, while Watkins led all players with 11 rebounds and Bennett added nine, helping an undersized Blue Devils’ squad win the board battle, 36-28.
“This is a great memory. We’re all going to remember this for the rest of our lives,” Bennett said.
Ava Dobbins led the Titans with 14 points, while Frymier and Brannon scored eight apiece.
“It was a great strategy from St. Marys,” Chapman said. “They game-planned well for us and we couldn’t get shots to fall today.”
Class A all-tournament team
Elsa Law, Ritchie County
Haven Deskins, Tug Valley
Lena Frymier, Gilmer County
Anna Bennett, St. Marys
Kenley Hartshorn, Gilmer County
Laney Watkins, St. Marys
Ava Dobbins, Gilmer County
MVP: Brynnley Bulluck, St. Marys