My favorite part of the tournament. Class 1 day. Huge crowd from GW
Girls 1A State Championship: Buffalo Gap vs George Wythe
- Thread starter kwhs95fan
- Start date
GW seems to be a second half team, so I could see them potentially opening this game wide open in the 2nd half
GW girls can really shoot the ball. The girls have great rotation on their shots.
Yeah they do. It must be in the water, because the boys team can really shoot it too
GIRLS BASKETBALL: VHSL CLASS 1 CHAMPIONSHIP | GEORGE WYTHE 50, BUFFALO GAP 44
Buffalo Gap's Rachel Carter (right) comforts Hannah Carter after receiving their VHSL Class 1 state runner-up trophy.
Daniel Lin
RICHMOND — After hitting the hardwood visibly in pain and clutching her left knee, Buffalo Gap standout Hannah Coffman took a few minutes before being helped to the sideline.
But upon arrival to her team’s bench late in the third quarter, she had a simple message for the training staff.
“I’m not going to give up on anything,” the Bison senior said. “When I went out, the trainer came over and I told her, ‘Just put some tape on it and put me back out there.’”
Coffman came back out for the fourth quarter, with her team trailing by six, and although it ultimately wasn’t enough to push Gap to a comeback victory, it was symbolic of the grit the team displayed throughout the season and a majority of Friday’s contest in Richmond.
“I think it showed a lot as far as the person I am,” Coffman said.
George Wythe used a big second-quarter run to open up a lead and did enough late to hold on for an impressive 50-44 victory over the Bison in the Virginia High School League Class 1 state championship at the Stuart C. Siegel Center in downtown
The win marked the first state championship for the Maroons in 36 years.
“When I walked in that locker room tonight and saw the look on their faces, I knew they were ready to go,” GWHS head coach Doug Campbell said. “I knew they were going to come out to play. I do the yelling over on the bench, but I knew we were ready to play.”
After falling behind 10-4 to open the game, junior Kayleigh Hemp got hot with a pair of 3-pointers and another the old-fashioned way as Gap battled to a 17-17 score through one.
But in the second quarter, Makaylan Luttrell and Caroline Harris both hit 3s for George Wythe to push its lead to six and the Maroons went up by 10 when Avery Cline hit a jumper with 1:42 remaining in the frame.
They eventually led by eight entering the break.
“We didn’t out as well on the shooters and, offensively, we didn’t get settled down to get good shots,” Bison head coach Phillip Morgan said. “We just didn’t get in a flow and didn’t get out on their shooters. They started hitting shots and it’s a deadly combination.”
Buffalo Gap's Kayleigh Hemp and Hannah Coffman chase down a loose ball against George Wythe's Abbigail Berry.
Buffalo Gap's Hannah Coffman tips a pass meant for George Wythe's Kailey Mullins.
Buffalo Gap's Kayleigh Henmp chases down a rebound between George Wythe's Caroline Harris and Avery Cline.
But George Wythe immediately responded with another trey from Luttrell and Cline added another score with 26 seconds left to give the Maroons a 45-37 advantage heading to the fourth.
“We knew we had to get out on the shooters, and we made a concentrated effort to do that,” Morgan said. “They’re a good shooting team and they find ways to get them the ball. ... We just didn’t capitalize the way we should have today. It came back to hurt us.”
The closest the Bison got in the fourth quarter was four on a jumper from Coffman with 3:40 remaining, but George Wythe did a sound job of running out the clock in the final minutes, using long possessions to wear down the defense and seal the victory.
“That’s a real tricky thing because you don’t want to come out too early because [the deficit] was still only about six points,” Morgan said. “There were a couple of [possessions] where they threw it away there, so that threw us off. We just never got adjusted to that.”
Coffman, a two-time Shenandoah District Player of the Year, finished her decorated high school career with Buffalo Gap as the program’s fourth all-time leading scorer.
Against the Maroons, she had 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists and eight steals.
“It was a well-played game,” Campbell said. “Hats off to Buffalo Gap. They came out and they competed hard. Coffman is everything we thought she was. She is really hard to defend. She got to the paint, hit the 3. We tried to throw everything at her. She was tough.”
Hemp, a junior who had 21 points and five boards herself, said Coffman’s courage in the final quarter is something she’ll never forget about her teammate as they move on from Gap.
“When she came back in, she told us, ‘We’re not giving up right now,’” said Hemp, who is moving to Florida this weekend. “Even though we were down, she told us to keep going.”
Coffman, Karah Richie and Rachel Carter are the four seniors on the Bison roster.
During their tenure, Gap reached the state tournament every season.
They finished as state runner-up twice and got to the semifinals the other two seasons.
“They’ve meant so much to me to come in as freshmen and put that work in over the next three years,” Morgan said. “It shows a lot about them — their determination and their dedication to it. I’m super proud of the seniors.”
At the beginning of the season, the Bison were a team with some question marks.
But as the year progressed, Gap found its groove, entering the state title game on an eight-game winning streak and continuing its run as an established top-tier Class 1 program.
“I’m super proud of these young ladies,” Morgan said. “They played hard, played hard for me all season. There was probably nobody that thought we could get here and that might include us coaches. You always dream about getting here but we lost a bunch from last year’s team, and we just weren’t sure. They’ve come out every day and worked and they took a shot tonight, but I thought they played hard.”
That type of effort and fight from the players was something that made the Bison special, Morgan said.
And it’s why their senior leader didn’t quit fighting on Saturday regardless of the outcome.
“It’s really meant a lot because we’re such a small school,” Coffman said. “We’ve proven we might be a small school, but our program is tough enough to take on anybody and be successful.”
Second-quarter struggles doom Bison in loss to Maroons
Buffalo Gap's Rachel Carter (right) comforts Hannah Carter after receiving their VHSL Class 1 state runner-up trophy.
Daniel Lin
RICHMOND — After hitting the hardwood visibly in pain and clutching her left knee, Buffalo Gap standout Hannah Coffman took a few minutes before being helped to the sideline.
But upon arrival to her team’s bench late in the third quarter, she had a simple message for the training staff.
“I’m not going to give up on anything,” the Bison senior said. “When I went out, the trainer came over and I told her, ‘Just put some tape on it and put me back out there.’”
Coffman came back out for the fourth quarter, with her team trailing by six, and although it ultimately wasn’t enough to push Gap to a comeback victory, it was symbolic of the grit the team displayed throughout the season and a majority of Friday’s contest in Richmond.
“I think it showed a lot as far as the person I am,” Coffman said.
George Wythe used a big second-quarter run to open up a lead and did enough late to hold on for an impressive 50-44 victory over the Bison in the Virginia High School League Class 1 state championship at the Stuart C. Siegel Center in downtown
The win marked the first state championship for the Maroons in 36 years.
“When I walked in that locker room tonight and saw the look on their faces, I knew they were ready to go,” GWHS head coach Doug Campbell said. “I knew they were going to come out to play. I do the yelling over on the bench, but I knew we were ready to play.”
After falling behind 10-4 to open the game, junior Kayleigh Hemp got hot with a pair of 3-pointers and another the old-fashioned way as Gap battled to a 17-17 score through one.
But in the second quarter, Makaylan Luttrell and Caroline Harris both hit 3s for George Wythe to push its lead to six and the Maroons went up by 10 when Avery Cline hit a jumper with 1:42 remaining in the frame.
They eventually led by eight entering the break.
“We didn’t out as well on the shooters and, offensively, we didn’t get settled down to get good shots,” Bison head coach Phillip Morgan said. “We just didn’t get in a flow and didn’t get out on their shooters. They started hitting shots and it’s a deadly combination.”
State Championship Basketball: Buffalo Gap vs George Wythe
Buffalo Gap's Kayleigh Hemp and Hannah Coffman chase down a loose ball against George Wythe's Abbigail Berry.
- Daniel Lin / DN-R
Buffalo Gap's Hannah Coffman tips a pass meant for George Wythe's Kailey Mullins.
- Daniel Lin / DN-R
Buffalo Gap's Kayleigh Henmp chases down a rebound between George Wythe's Caroline Harris and Avery Cline.
- Daniel Lin / DN-R
But George Wythe immediately responded with another trey from Luttrell and Cline added another score with 26 seconds left to give the Maroons a 45-37 advantage heading to the fourth.
“We knew we had to get out on the shooters, and we made a concentrated effort to do that,” Morgan said. “They’re a good shooting team and they find ways to get them the ball. ... We just didn’t capitalize the way we should have today. It came back to hurt us.”
The closest the Bison got in the fourth quarter was four on a jumper from Coffman with 3:40 remaining, but George Wythe did a sound job of running out the clock in the final minutes, using long possessions to wear down the defense and seal the victory.
“That’s a real tricky thing because you don’t want to come out too early because [the deficit] was still only about six points,” Morgan said. “There were a couple of [possessions] where they threw it away there, so that threw us off. We just never got adjusted to that.”
Coffman, a two-time Shenandoah District Player of the Year, finished her decorated high school career with Buffalo Gap as the program’s fourth all-time leading scorer.
Against the Maroons, she had 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists and eight steals.
“It was a well-played game,” Campbell said. “Hats off to Buffalo Gap. They came out and they competed hard. Coffman is everything we thought she was. She is really hard to defend. She got to the paint, hit the 3. We tried to throw everything at her. She was tough.”
Hemp, a junior who had 21 points and five boards herself, said Coffman’s courage in the final quarter is something she’ll never forget about her teammate as they move on from Gap.
“When she came back in, she told us, ‘We’re not giving up right now,’” said Hemp, who is moving to Florida this weekend. “Even though we were down, she told us to keep going.”
Coffman, Karah Richie and Rachel Carter are the four seniors on the Bison roster.
During their tenure, Gap reached the state tournament every season.
They finished as state runner-up twice and got to the semifinals the other two seasons.
“They’ve meant so much to me to come in as freshmen and put that work in over the next three years,” Morgan said. “It shows a lot about them — their determination and their dedication to it. I’m super proud of the seniors.”
At the beginning of the season, the Bison were a team with some question marks.
But as the year progressed, Gap found its groove, entering the state title game on an eight-game winning streak and continuing its run as an established top-tier Class 1 program.
“I’m super proud of these young ladies,” Morgan said. “They played hard, played hard for me all season. There was probably nobody that thought we could get here and that might include us coaches. You always dream about getting here but we lost a bunch from last year’s team, and we just weren’t sure. They’ve come out every day and worked and they took a shot tonight, but I thought they played hard.”
That type of effort and fight from the players was something that made the Bison special, Morgan said.
And it’s why their senior leader didn’t quit fighting on Saturday regardless of the outcome.
“It’s really meant a lot because we’re such a small school,” Coffman said. “We’ve proven we might be a small school, but our program is tough enough to take on anybody and be successful.”
George Wythe 17 16 12 5 — 50
Buffalo Gap 17 8 12 7 — 44
GEORGE WYTHE (27-3) — Cline 3-8 2-4 8, Luttrell 4-7 1-2 13, Berry 0-6 3-6 3, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Harris 3-8 1-2 9, Malavolti 5-10 1-2 13, Faulkner 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Mullins 0-0 0-0 0, Morris 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 16-40 10-18 50.
BUFFALO GAP (22-5) — A. Hemp 0-0 0-0 0, Richie 0-3 0-2 0, Showalter 0-2 0-0 0, Tribble 1-3 0-1 2, Woods 0-0 0-0 0, K. Hemp 7-14 4-5 21, Carter 0-4 0-0 0, Pierce 0-1 0-0 0, Coffman 6-17 8-12 21, Caricofe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-44 12-20 44.
3-Point Goals — George Wythe 8-19 (Luttrell 4-6, Harris 2-5, Malavolti 2-3, Berry 0-3, Cline 0-2), Buffalo Gap 4-17 (Hemp 3-7, Coffman 1-6, Carter 0-2, Richie 0-1, Tribble 0-1). Rebounds — George Wythe 33 (Berry 6), Buffalo Gap 28 (Coffman 7). Assists — George Wythe 12 (Berry 3), Buffalo Gap 7 (Coffman 4). Total Fouls — George Wythe 20, Buffalo Gap 19.
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