Williamstown's Quinn Bunch tries to keep possession of the ball while being defended by Gilmer County's Allie Ellyson during the Yellowjackets' 45-41 senior night victory Friday. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Lena Frymier scored a game-high 16 points and backcourt mate Allie Ellyson added 15 more for top-ranked, Class A Gilmer County, but it wasn’t quite enough as No. 3, double-A Williamstown held on for a 45-41 senior night victory in a showdown of Little Kanawha Conference powers.

Faith Pickens and Annabelle Haught were honored pregame as the Yelllowjackets of head coach Danny Bunch will carry a 17-5 mark as the No. 3 seed into next Friday’s Region I opener versus sixth-seeded Ravenswood.

The Titans of head coach Amy Chapman trailed by seven early in the second, took their first lead at 22-21 at 2:33 of the third on a Blair Dobbins bucket and had a chance to tie it with 1:18 remaining at 41-all, but Frymier’s corner 3 rimmed out.

“That’s not the kind of game you normally try to set for senior night, but we had Elkins cancel on us and we sent out an email and luckily coach Chapman needed a game and she’d definitely never one to back down from competition and we sort of have the same mindset,” admitted coach Bunch, who received 10 points from daughter Quinn and Arissa Burt white Haught had nine, Pickens eight and Gracie Montgomery seven off the bench. “In a game like that at the end of the year playing the number one team in the state, and she feels the same way about playing us and trying to prep us for the postseason.

“They got us here last year and the girls remembered that. I reminded them. That’s the kind of team we want to finish with. We got bigger goals and we want to get ready for the postseason and I feel like bringing a team in here we could beat by 30 or 40 points we wouldn’t have got as much out of it. It was a great game. They are a great team and they are well coached. I knew it was going to be like that. We still get one more home game next week so it’s not their last home game, but it’s good on senior night they got honored and were able to pull out a win like that against a team like that.”

Williamstown's Annabelle Haught goes up for a bucket between the defense of Gilmer County's Laura Brannon (4) and Blair Dobbins (24) during the Yellowjackets' 45-41 senior night victory Friday. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Williamstown, which led 8-6 after one and 17-13 at halftime, opened the affair with four straight turnovers.

Gilmer County, now 18-4 with a home game set for next Friday as the No. 1 seed in the Region IV tournament versus the No. 8 Sherman/No. 9 Man victor, made just three field goals in the opening half, which were all from beyond the arc.

Pickens opened the third with a deuce thanks to an Anna Cosner assist and the lead was still six at 21-15 when Burt converted to counter a putback by Laura Brannon.

However, another putback by Blair Dobbins was followed by a Frymier trifecta before Ava Dobbins scored to give the visitors their first lead.

Despite Ava Dobbins, who joined Ellyson with six rebounds while finishing with a game-high three blocks, making her lone basket for a 24-21 cushion, Montgomery tied it with a 3 and the hosts went ahead for good at 28-26 thanks to a Bunch deuce. The Titans trailed 30-26 entering the fourth after Makaela Bandy found Haught for a basket with 5 seconds left on the clock.

Gilmer County's Lena Frymier looks to drive as Williamstown's Gracie Montgomery defends during the Yellowjackets' 45-41 senior night victory Friday. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“That’s what we were looking forward to was the challenge,” admitted coach Chapman, who got a game-high five steals from Frymier and a quartet from Ellyson. “This is only going to make us better. We had a battle all night. There were things that definitely got exposed that we still need to continue to work on, but in the long run I’m positive and the girls are going to stay positive and that’s important right now is just to keep a good head and keep the mindset, and accept challenges.

“That was just a challenge. Williamstown is a terrific team and that’s why we wanted to play them. I love our defensive effort. I mean we just played great defense other than a few breakdowns. We held that team to under 50 and those post players are huge in there and Pickens is a great inside player. I thought Ava for the most part did a great job on her. Offensively, they were good defensively. Listen, it was fun. I enjoyed it and the girls got better from it so we’re just going to use it as a positive.”

Prior to Frymier’s 3 rimming out, the Titans closed it to one point on three other occasions in the fourth quarter with the last coming at the 3:19 mark when Ellyson had a three-point play.

“We got a couple good stops,” coach Bunch said of the difference in the game. “Ellyson started taking over there late and got downhill, but we just didn’t have an answer for her. We got a couple big buckets late. We just ended up on the right side of the stick. There’s really not one play.

“That was a tough ballgame. They are a solid team. Those two guards up top just put the ball pressure on. We really cancel each other out a lot. The bigs cancel each other out. The guards cancel each other out. It’s what you get. I’m proud of them. I’m glad that we came up on the winning end this time.”

Gilmer County's Ava Dobbins leaps to grab a lob pass intended for Williamstown's Faith Pickens during the Yellowjackets' 45-41 senior night victory Friday. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Pickens finished with a game-high seven rebounds while Burt added a trio of steals.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com