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St. Marys beats Gilmer at LKC Night of Champs

Williamstown beats Doddridge for 3rd place

By Jay W. Bennett 6 min read

GLENVILLE — Points were at a premium here Saturday night at the Waco Center and although Gilmer County’s Ava Dobbins led all scorers with 14, St. Marys led start to finish and received 12 counters from Brynnley Bulluck and 11 by three-time Top Gun champion Addie Davis en route to denying the Titans a repeat Little Kanawha Conference title after holding on for a 37-34 victory.

“It was a lot of motivation. They are a really tough team. They were a tough team last year and they will continue to be a tough team,” admitted Bulluck, who had the game’s lone blocked shot, of falling 53-49 in overtime a year ago to the Titans. “We definitely had a little chip on our shoulder from last time losing in overtime. I just think we found a lot of grit.

“We went through a little stretch there where we weren’t really jelling up and were a little Helter Skelter, but we have a really good bond and I think we really pushed together as a team. They have a lot of 6-foot girls and we’re not too tall and their guards are amazing, They are just a really good team and they are a really tough team to beat. It’s always going to be back and forth between us.”

St. Marys, which entered the week tied for first with Wheeling Central in double-A, scored the first nine points of the affair thanks to a pair of 3s by Davis and a three-point play from Callie Powell.

“We’ve been through a rough schedule. It’s a gauntlet,” said SMHS boss Fred King, whose squad managed just four points after leading 33-20 following a Buckley trey via an Anna Bennett dime with 3:14 left in the third.

“They scrapped after us. We stopped playing. Instead of playing team we went to a me, I situation sometimes and that don’t help you. When we play as a quartet and a five-tet or whatever it is, we’re pretty good.”

Lena Frymier knocked down a pair of 3, Blair Dobbins had a deuce, Allie Ellyson hit from deep and both Laura Brannon and Ava Dobbins knocked down a charity stripe toss to make it 15-13 after one.

St. Marys, which improved to 16-4 and welcomes Oak Glen to town on Tuesday, held a 22-18 advantage at intermission following a Davis hoop with a minute left.

The Titans, who are top-ranked in Class A and dropped to 17-3 with Lincoln invading on Wednesday, watched the Blue Devils score the first eight markers of the third. Bulluck got the spurt started with a pair of field goals. Freshman Laney Watkins, who had six points, a game-high nine rebounds and a trio of assists, knocked down a 16-foot jumper to make it 28-18 and the Titans trailed 30-18 following a pair of foul shots conversions from Davis.

Despite leading by a baker’s dozen after the Bulluck trifecta, the lead was just seven going into the fourth as Ellyson hit a floater and Ava Dobbins scored inside twice.

St. Marys opted to play a little keep away to open the fourth, but had a pair of turnovers in the first 2:22 as the lead dwindled to 33-30. Ava Dobbins converted thanks to a Kenley Hartshorn assist and Malory Casteel drained a 12-foot baseline jumper.

Although Casteel proceeded to assist on another Ava Dobbins make at the 3:11 mark to close to within one, Bulluck had a lay-in to make it 35-32.

Despite one more basket by Ava Dobbins via another Hartshorn dime with 2:37 to go, the Titans of head coach Amy Chapman didn’t score again.

Frymier has a chance to put the Titans ahead for the first time in the game, but her 3 was off the mark. With 49.9 remaining, Davis made a free throw and the final score was set with 18.2 to go when Bulluck made 1 of 2. A potential game-tying triple by Frymier also didn’t find the bottom of the net as the Blue Devils held on.

“It was so cool. Such a special moment senior year, but I give credit to Gilmer,” said Davis. “They are a great team. They fought just as hard as us, but I was glad we came out on the other side of it, especially having that kind of motivation from last year and just coming back and winning it.

“It was very fulfilling. It was definitely physical. This is a great one to have, but I think these games that we’ve played just punishing us, just working us, like they’ve put us to the test. I think it’s great and sets us up for the end of the year.”

Ellyson had a game-high five assists while Brannon joined Bennett with five rebounds.

Each team had 10 turnovers. The Blue Devils shot 37.1% (13 of 35) while the Titans shot 42.4% (14 of 33).

“Here’s the thing. This, we hope, gets us the number two seed,” added coach King, whose squad nipped the visiting Titans 55-51 three days after Christmas. “We’re in the championship game.

“We were beat by Williamstown by seven and we beat them by eight. We both got beat by Central and we won the LK(C) championship and hopefully people will look at this and give us the number two seed. I’m pretty happy.”

CONSOLATION

Williamstown’s Faith Pickens, who finished runner-up to Roane County’s Anna Tolley in the LKC free-throw competition, scored half of her game-high 20 points in the opening quarter and finished a carom shy of a double-double as the third-ranked, Class AA Yellowjackets (16-5) ran past Doddridge County, 64-26.

Last year in the consolation affair, the Bulldogs fell to the ‘Jackets, 67-39.

Doddridge County, now 13-8 with a home game Tuesday versus Ritchie County, trailed 21-7 after one and 36-10 at halftime.

Gracie Montgomery and Quinn Bunch, who joined Makaela Bandy with three steals, added 11 points apiece for the victors. Arissa Burt chipped in six points and five rebounds while Bandy added five markers and Anna Cosner, who had a game-high four thefts, a quartet.

The Bulldogs, who got eight points from Payton Trent and six from Belle Holtz, faced a 56-20 deficit entering the final eight minutes.

Williamstown, which is off until Gilmer County rolls into Wood County on Friday night, finished with a 33-26 edge on the glass and held a 20-8 turnover margin advantage.

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