By John Raby
Associated Press
CHARLESTON — The big orange letters on the freshly printed T-shirts worn by Summers County’s players after the Bobcats’ fourth straight Class AA championship said it all: Dynasty.
Hallie Gunnoe scored 31 points to lead top-seeded Summers County to a 58-50 win over No. 2 Scott on Saturday. The title ties Summers County with the Class A Mercer Christian teams from 1999-2002 for the longest championship streaks in girls state basketball history.
Summers County now has a 68-game winning streak and has gone 28-0 two years in a row. No other West Virginia high school team — boys or girls — has ever won that many games in a season.
“There was a little bit of pressure on us gonig into this game with the win streak and consecutive titles,” said Summers County coach Wayne Ryan. “We handled all that and we got the job done. We’re the state champs for four years in a row now and these kids deserve a lot of credit.”
Scott coach John Porter agreed with the dynasty label and believes Summers County is unmatched on any level.
“No offense to the North Marions or the (Huntington) St. Joe’s,” he said. “I feel Summers County is probably the best team in the state right now and has been for a couple of years. It’s a machine.”
Summers County has seen solid players come and go since 2007 and no lineup switch has slowed down the Bobcats. In the first two years, Jolysa Brown and Emily Blevins carried the team in the title game. Last year it was Blevins, Leslie Mack and Gunnoe.
“It’s been depth,” Ryan said when asked about his team’s recipe for success. “It’s been the fact that for all four years, we’ve had a solid basketball team beyond just the five that might start. It’s been different groups that have led us.”
Gunnoe had the stage to herself this time.
“She’s a player,” Porter said. “She’s dangerous.”
For every scoring run by Scott, Gunnoe was there to answer. She scored 20 points before halftime and, when Scott had pulled within six at the end of the third quarter, Gunnoe made two straight baskets to put Summers County ahead 50-41 with 3:36 left in the game.
“Every time we needed a key stop or a key basket, we got it,” Ryan said.
Gunnoe, a junior, made 14 of 24 shots and also led the Bobcats with 10 rebounds and six steals.
“I just went out and played hard,” Gunnoe said. “Without my team, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of that. They were the ones that really got me open.”
While Summers County had blown out nearly every opponent this season, Scott has been the only one to come within striking distance, losing by eight and 10 points in their two earlier meetings.
Three of Summers County’s four lowest scoring games came against Scott. The Skyhawks (22-5) somehow kept pace with Summer County’s fast-moving offense, rebounding savvy and pressing defense.
“The better team won, but they were in a fight,” Porter said. “The girls had a refuse-to-lose attitude. They didn’t leave anything out there.”
Unlike their two earlier meetings, Scott relied on a zone defense that Ryan admitted he didn’t expect.
The Bobcats took the lead for good on a Gunnoe basket midway through the first quarter and the lead was extended to 28-15 on a Morgan Gore jumper with 3:15 left until halftime.
Scott’s Makenzie White scored 10 of her 21 points to end the second quarter and the Skyhawks closed the half with a 9-3 run to trail 31-24.
Gunnoe scored seven points and Leslie Mack four in the first five minutes of the second half to push Summers County’s lead to 44-30.
It marked the lowest scoring game in Summers County’s championship run. The Bobcats added to titles won in 1994 and 2000.
