By Dan Stillwell
Register-Herald Sports Writer
CHARLESTON — The shirts Wayne Ryan and his players wore to the post-game interview said it all.
“DYNASTY.”
Summers County won its fourth consecutive Class AA girls basketball state championship Saturday, defeating a hard-charging Scott team 58-50 at the Charleston Civic Center.
“We’re 28-0 and that’s a tremendous accomplishment,” Ryan said. “These players show up every night to play.”
The Bobcats join the 1999-2002 Mercer Christian team as the only girls basketball teams to have won a championship four seasons in a row.
They also matched their own record of 28 wins without a loss and extended their Class AA record for consecutive victories to 68.
“No offense to St. Joseph and North Marion (the defending Class A and AAA champions), but I feel Summers County is the best team in the state,” Scott coach John Porter said. “It’s a machine.”
Summers was challenged just four times this year, once by Woodrow Wilson and three times by Scott (22-5).
The Skyhawks fell behind in each game, but were never out of it until the final minute.
Summers led by 14 points, 44-30, with 3:13 left in the third period, but Scott kept making run after run at the Bobcats.
“Once they start scoring, it’s like a chain reaction,” Bobcats all-stater Hallie Gunnoe said. “They play off momentum.”
But so does Summers.
Down 2-0 early, the Bobcats got back-to-back 3-pointers from junior wing Leslie Mack.
“That was an amazing feeling,” she said. “I was pumped up.”
Scott tied the score, but Gunnoe suddenly caught fire. She scored off a rebound, from a steal, on two fast breaks and finally from the foul line to put her team up 17-9 by the first quarter’s end.
Far from finished, she drilled two jump shots and hit a transition basket as Summers took its biggest lead of the first half, 28-15, with 3:08 to go before the break.
Gunnoe finished with 31 points, six shy of Class AA single game record of 37 set by Missy Spangler of Ritchie County in 2001.
“I didn’t even know how many points I had,” she said. “We just look for open people. Whoever’s open is the one we want to score.”
Just when Summers looked in control of the game, Scott point guard Makenzie White scored 10 consecutive points to make it 31-24 at halftime.
Undaunted, Summers opened the third period with two baskets by Mack. Shaneece Price answered one of them, but Gunnoe hit a turnaround shot and then a 3-point play to put the lead at 14.
“At that point we could have said, ‘Well, we were here,’ but we weren’t finished,” Porter said.
Scott answered the call with an 8-0 run to end the quarter.
Summers went back out by 12, but White hit two 3-point goals to make it 56-50 with 33 seconds left to play.
The Bobcats’ defense held firm, and Mack and Hanna Gunnoe hit a foul shot apiece to finally seal the game.
“We got caught a couple of times, standing and looking,” Ryan said. “It’s a lot of human element. That’s why we play the game.
“But we challenged them. We’ve come too far. I told them, ‘Let’s take care of this right now.’ And they did.”
Hallie Gunnoe finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and six steals.
Mack added 13 points, while sixth man Candace Brown scored nine points and had 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The Bobcats’ 58 points were their lowest of the season.
“We played great defense,” Porter said. “We didn’t quit. It was a heck of a battle.”
White topped the Skyhawks with 21 points, along with seven rebounds and eight assists.
Ciera Bias scored 14 points and Brittani Adkins had 11 rebounds.
“It was a great AA state championship game,” Ryan said. “We beat an outstanding team.”
Point guard Ashley Brown, who guarded White much of the night, finished her career 12-0 in state tournament games.
“I’ve had four teams with awesome teammates, but this one was more special,” she said. “Everyone wants to win when they’re a senior.”
Brown was named to the all-tournament team along with both Gunnoes and Mack, Scott’s White and Bias, Ravenswood’s Rebekah Samples and Tolsia’s Kara Pollinger.
— E-mail: dstillwell@register-herald.com
SUMMERS COUNTY 58, SCOTT 50
SCOTT (22-5)
White 7-14 5-7 21, Bias 5-13 3-5 14, Tadlock 2-9 1-2 5, Price 4-7 0-0 8, Adkins 1-5 0-2 2, Stevens 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 9-16 50.
SUMMERS COUNTY (28-0)
Mack 5-19 1-2 13, Hal.Gunnoe 14-24 3-3 31, Han.Gunnoe 0-2 2-4 2, A.Brown 0-6 1-3 1, Lively 0-4 0-0 0, Gore 1-1 0-0 2, C.Brown 4-8 1-1 9, Hudson 0-0 0-0 0, Edwards 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 8-13 58.
S 9 15 14 12 — 50
SC 17 14 13 14 — 58
3-Point Goals—Scott 3-11 (White 2-7, Bias 1-2, Tadlock 0-2), Summers County 2-11 (Mack 2-9, A.Brown 0-1, Lively 0-1). Fouled out—none. Rebounds—Scott 37 (Adkins 11), Summers County 39 (Hal.Gunnoe, C.Brown 10). Assists—Scott 15 (White 8), Summers County 13 (A.Brown 5). Total fouls—Scott 15, Summers County 16.
