St. Marys' Lauren Pritchett, left, celebrates with teammates Anna Bennett (2) and Brynnley Bulluck (32) following the Blue Devils' 45-35 Class A state championship victory versus Gilmer County on Saturday morning inside the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

CHARLESTON — Defending Class A state champion and top-seeded Gilmer County was unable to solve the zone defense of third-seeded St. Marys here Saturday morning.

The 23-4 Blue Devils of head coach Fred King watched MVP Brynnley Bulluck go for a game-high 19 points as the Pleasants County program cut the nets down inside the Charleston Coliseum for the first time since 1990 after denying the Titans a repeat crown, 45-35.

The All-Little Kanawha Conference championship game showdown featured just a pair of ties at 10-all and 12-all.

Although SMHS tied what proved to be its largest lead at 28-18 not quite midway through the third, the Titans (24-3) of head coach Amy Chapman continued to fight and only trailed 38-35 with 2:04 remaining following a Lena Frymier trifecta, but Lauren Pritchett and Laney Watkins followed with lay-ins before Bulluck sealed the crown by hitting 3 of 4 foul shots down the stretch.

“It’s amazing. It’s a great honor,” said Bulluck, who canned 11 of 12 from the free-throw line and pulled down six rebounds. “It’s great to rekindle the legacy that the girls before us put on for us.

Brynnley Bulluck of St. Marys and Gilmer County's Ava Dobbins go after a loose ball during the Blue Devils' 45-35 Class A state championship victory Saturday morning inside the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“We knew it was our time. We knew we had the team, the talent and the heart to do it so we just went out there and played our game.”

Ava Dobbins, who had 14 points, five boards and a game-high two blocks, followed a Frymier runner with a hoop thanks to one of Laura Brannon’s game-high four assists as the Titans grabbed their biggest lead of the game at 10-7.

However, Landrey Riggs knocked down the second of her trio of 3s to square it after one.

“This championship definitely goes out to everyone who has helped us along the way,” Riggs said.

“I feel like we should’ve been here last year with our seniors that graduated last year. This is definitely for them.”

St. Marys head coach Fred King takes a breath prior to the final seconds of the Blue Devils' 45-35 Class A state championship victory versus Gilmer County on Saturday morning inside the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

The Titans, who shot 27.1% (13 of 48) and missed 17 of 22 from deep, made just one bucket in the second and that came at the 1:34 mark when Paige Sterns found Frymier, which made it 20-15 with 1:34 to go.

Bulluck followed with a putback and Dobbins had a foul shot to set the intermission score at 22-16. St. Marys actually went ahead for good at 14-12 following a Pritchett steal that led to a make by Bulluck, who had 10 counters in the quarter with Laney Watkins adding the other deuce.

“It’s clearly exciting,” admitted Watkins, who pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and joined Pritchett with a quartet of points. “I’m really happy. Coach King, he says we did it, but he gave us the plan and we just executed it.

“He’s a great coach and I’m just very happy to be a part of this team, and it’s something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.”

After falling behind 28-18, Brannon grabbed a rebound and raced coast-to-coast for a lay-in. Although she followed that with a triple to cut the deficit in half, Riggs capped her nine point effort with another trifecta to close out the period.

St. Marys' Laney Watkins is guarded by Gilmer County's Laura Brannon during the Blue Devils' 4535 Class A state championship victory Saturday morning inside the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Pritchett’s hoop to open the scoring in the fourth came with 6:28 remaining. Despite being down 10 again, the Titans got a 3 from Brannon, who joined Frymier with eight markers, and it was 33-30 with 4:04 to go after Blair Dobbins and Ava Dobbins scored underneath.

Bennett then followed with a rare 3 to make it 36-30 and the lead remained at six, 38-32, after Bulluck drove and dished to Bennett for a lay-in.

“This is a great memory,” said Bennett, who had nine rebounds and tied Sterns for game-high steals honors with a pair. “We’re all going to remember this for the rest of our lives, especially even the younger girls, too, but I hope we make it back next year. I guess just enjoy the moment right now.”

Bulluck was joined on the all-tournament team by Watkins and Bennett.

“I’m telling you, you can’t do it unless you got a team outfit,” said coach King. “We’ve got players up here that are not only good basketball players, but the most important thing is they got hearts as big as basketballs. I didn’t have much to do with it. They bought in what we asked them to do and coach (Terry) Nichols and I got together and we discussed this, and thanks a lot to coach Nichols.

St. Marys' Landrey Riggs runs the weave while being guarded by Gilmer County's Paige Sterns during the Blue Devils' 45-35 Class A state championship victory Saturday morning inside the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“He did a fantastic job this year taking care of scouting and does a great job. These girls here guys, it’s just like this. We couldn’t have done it unless they bought in what we were asking them to do. Cohesiveness, heart, a lot of character and a lot of hard work and guess what? State champions baby. First time in 36 years. Congratulations girls. It all goes out to you guys because you did it, not me.”

Despite the Titans having the size advantage, the Blue Devils managed a 36-28 edge on the glass and shot not quite 37% (15 of 41).

“I feel incredibly blessed to have a season like this,” said coach Chapman, who was unsure if Frymier would be ready to play after suffering an ankle injury during the semifinals. “Hats off to these young ladies. They grinded all season. Type of players every coach dreams about. I’m proud of these young ladies for putting up a fight.

“Great strategy by St. Marys tonight. They game planned well against us. We just couldn’t get shots to fall tonight. I think that was one of the biggest problems for us offensively. We worked on it. We couldn’t get in a rhythm consistently. We did hit some big shots. Climbed back into it, but they always seemed to have an answer for our run.”

Ava Dobbins and Frymier were joined on the all-tournament team by fellow Titan Kenley Hartshorn, who double-doubled off the bench in the first two games, as well as Ritchie County’s Elsa Law and Tug Valley’s Haven Deskins.

Gilmer County's Kenley Hartshorn gets a double team from St. Marys' Landrey Riggs and Lauren Pritchett during the Blue Devils' 45-35 Class A state championship victory Saturday morning inside the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“I’m proud. Even though we were down we stayed in the game and never quit,” admitted Ava Dobbins.

Frymier added “I’m just proud for getting here and making it this far. We played great this whole year and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

St. Marys appears to be primed to make another championship run next year considering the Blue Devils will bring everyone back.

For now, coach King is more than content to just have one.

“If feels pretty good and Amy is a good friend of mine,” coach King added. “They are very good and had a great team, but to dethrone them, it’s an honor. They earned what they had and we were able to find a way to win the war here today.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Gilmer County's Lena Frymier is guarded by St. Marys' Lauren Pritchett during the Blue Devils' 45-35 Class A state championship game victory Saturday morning inside the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

The St. Marys bench reacts as time dwindles late in the fourth quarter during the Blue Devils' 45-35 Class A state championship victory versus Gilmer County on Saturday morning inside the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)