Gilmer County's Laura Brannon, who doubled-doubled with 10 points and 10 rebounds while adding three assists and two steals, is guarded by Williamstown's Quinn Bunch during Saturday night's Little Kanawha Conference championship game at Glenville State University's Waco Center. The Titans won, 41-31. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

GLENVILLE – For the second time in three years the Gilmer County girls basketball program sits atop the Little Kanawha Conference.

Here Saturday night in the LKC finals contested at Glenville State University’s Waco Center, the Titans gave head coach Amy Chapman not only a Happy Valentine’s Day present but also a reward on her birthday as the defending Class A state champs knocked off No. 2 Class AA Williamstown, 41-31, in a defensive struggle.

“I’m proud of the girls. We executed the gameplan pretty well, especially defensively,” admitted coach Chapman, whose squad trailed 20-15 at the break, but used a 13-1 edge in the third to turn the tide and salted the game away late with six foul shots from Laura Brannon, who double-doubled with 10 points and as many rebounds. “We switched things. We knew we might have to go to a different defense than we typically run, but we worked on it and the girls executed really well.

“Offensively, you know, we’re a little hesitant getting into our offense but we settled down in the second half and ran some good plays, and got some good looks. The press, and we knew coach (Danny) Bunch would do that. We worked on pressbreak and what to look for. I thought we handled the press fairly decently. We got some nice looks out of it. Once we got it past their press and set up in our offense I thought we ran our offense a lot better, set better screens, cut hard, took better shots.”

Not much was working for the Titans in the opening quarter as Arissa Burt opened the scoring with a 3 at the 5:23 mark and it was 7-0 following hoops by Williamstown’s Gracie Montgomery and Quinn Bunch.

Williamstown's Arissa Burt pressures Gilmer County's Ava Dobbins during Saturday night's Little Kanawha Conference championship game at Glenville State University's Waco Center. The Titans won, 41-31. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Brannon’s lay-in with 2:31 left in the first made it 7-2, which was the quarter-ending score as the Titans missed 5 of 6 shots and turned it over a half dozen times.

Four points from Burt, a two and a 3 from Bunch and then a Montgomery basket gave the ‘Jackets a 20-10 advantage with 3:22 to go in the half, but WHS missed its final five attempts, which allowed the Titans to close the gap to five thanks to an Ava Dobbins make via twin sister Blair Dobbins’ assist and a timely triple by Erin Stoddard.

Brannon got the second half going with a bang when she had a steal and a layup. That was followed by a Lena Frymier trifecta and the Titans finally took their first lead at 22-20 when Blair Dobbins scored in the paint.

Although Burt followed with a charity stripe make at the 4:59 mark, that proved to be the only point of the quarter as the ‘Jackets missed all eight of their field goal attempts and had six turnovers.

Ava Dobbins, who had nine points and game-highs of 12 rebounds and five blocked shots, added two more deuces to help the Titans forge a 28-21 advantage entering the fourth.

Gilmer County's Blair Dobbins guards Williamstown's Maggie Frye during the Titans' 41-31 Little Kanawha Conference championship game victory Saturday night at Glenville State University's Waco Center. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Consecutive Maggie Frye hoops, both from Anna Cosner assists, quickly cut the deficit to just three as coach Chapman called timeout after her team started the fourth with three missed shots and a trio of turnovers.

However, the Dobbins twins each followed with three-point plays as the Titans’ edge eventually grew to 34-25 midway through the fourth.

Williamstown, which dropped to 16-3 and plays Tuesday at Frontier, continued to fight. Following baskets by Cosner, Montgomery and Frye the Titans’ lead dwindled to just four at 35-31, but the ‘Jackets didn’t dent the scoreboard again as Brannon sealed the win at the foul line.

“We need games like this in the stretch,” stressed coach Chapman, who got 10 points and six boards from Blair Dobbins along with nine counters by Frymier. “It shows us what we need to zero in on at practice and things that we need to focus in on to clean up, but we are a very gritty little team. We are very similar to Williamstown. Both of us play great defense. I knew he was going to have great defense and I knew my girls can play great defense.

“I knew whoever could take care of the basketball and take better shots would probably be the one coming out. It was just a really good game. I just knew how it was going to go. I knew it was going to be low scoring. I knew it was going to be a big defensive effort from everyone. We just were able to catch a lead, the clock was on our side and we were able to get to the foul line and make foul shots. Foul shots were huge.”

Bunch finished with seven points and a game-high four steals while Montgomery and Frye had six apiece. Burt, who was in foul trouble, led the ‘Jackets with 10 markers and five boards.

Gilmer County, which shot 40% (14 of 35) compared to Williamstown’s 25.5% (13 of 51), limited the ‘Jackets to a 2 of 21 effort from beyond the arc.

The 16-1 Titans return to action on Monday at No. 6 Tucker County.

Buffalo 64, Parkersburg Catholic 56

Brooke Woods went for game-highs of 26 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and six steals during the LKC consolation game here Saturday inside Glenville State’s Waco Center as Buffalo upset No. 5 Class A Parkersburg Catholic, 64-56.

Parkersburg Catholic's Caroline Wynn applies pressure to Buffalo's Cami Samples during Saturday's Little Kanawha Conference consolation game at Glenville State University's Waco Center. Buffalo won, 64-56. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Annie Tokodi-Ruth, who led the now 12-7 Crusaderettes with 20 points, scored the first basket of the game, but it proved to be their only lead.

Woods’ first deuce and then a 3 by Alyssa Grandbouche, who had 11 points and six dimes, ignited a 21-5 quarter-ending run as the only other PCHS field goals came via a Tokodi-Ruth triple and a Peyton Murdock bucket to end the stanza via a Macy Singer assist.

Ellie Kinnison, who had 18 points, drained a trifecta with three seconds left in the half but the Crusaderettes still trailed 38-23 at the break.

PCHS finally sliced the deficit to two possessions with 1:28 left in the third after another Kinnison triple and a pair of Singer free throws, but Woods’ putback gave the Bison a 49-41 edge entering the final eight minutes.

Caroline Wynn, who scored six points along with Bryley Starkey (team-high 10 rebounds), opened the fourth with a 3 and PCHS closed within a pair at 58-56 with 2:24 remaining when Tokodi-Ruth knocked down one of her five treys, but Cami Samples answered with a runner.

Parkersburg Catholic's Ellie Kinnison blocks the shot of Buffalo's Brooke Woods during Saturday's Little Kanawha Conference consolation game at Glenville State University's Waco Center. Buffalo won, 64-56. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Buffalo, which got 10 points from Samples, eight by Baylie Davis and six from Anna Boggess, who had 14 caroms, tacked on the final four points from the free-throw line with Grandbouche and Woods hitting a pair apiece.

The Bison, now 13-5 with a road trip Monday to Point Pleasant, shot 43.3% (26 of 60) compared to Parkersburg Catholic’s 29.6% (16 of 54).

PCHS, which welcomes in Wood County Christisan on Monday, finished 11 of 35 from beyond the arc.

In the LKC Top Gun competition, St. Marys’ Brynnley Bulluck was crowned champion while the free-throw shooting title went to Braxton County’s Bailey Pritt.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com