The Williamstown boys celebrate after winning their third straight Little Kanawha Conference championship Saturday at the Waco Center. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

GLENVILLE — For the third straight year, and sixth time in the last eight years, Williamstown reigns supreme in the Little Kanawha Conference.

At the conclusion of Saturday’s LKC Night of Champs at Glenville State’s Waco Center, it was the Yellowjackets, ranked No. 1 in Class AA, celebrating a 66-49 victory over No. 5 Doddridge County.

“Really excited about it,” said Williamstown head coach Scott Sauro. “It’s one of our goals at the beginning of the year, really our first goal. We’ve been blessed to be able to do that three years in a row with this great senior class that we have and the rest of these kids. It feels really good. It’s tough to win the league, especially a 16-team league.”

Despite how the final score looked, the Bulldogs pushed Williamstown for most of the game and was within two late in the third.

“We’re not out for moral victories,” said Doddridge head coach Paul Burnisde. “We wanted to get the victory tonight, but as far as the effort goes, I thought our guys played with great effort. Our execution wasn’t there at times, but my guys battled for four quarters and didn’t stop, even though the score kind of got away there at the end, and I’m proud of them for that.”

Williamstown's Jayden Bryant, left, looks to pass as Doddridge County's Jerod Trent defends during Saturday's game at the Waco Center. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Four Williamstown players scored in double figures, led by Jayden Bryant’s 18 points. Cruz Isaly added 17, Parker Schramm tallied 12 and Lynken Joy finished with 11.

The Yellowjackets led 17-6 after a quarter, but Doddridge made it a dogfight in the second, outsourcing WHS 15-8 to cut the deficit to four, 25-21, by halftime.

“We could’ve folded when we were down 17-6 at the end of one,” Burnside said. “Credit to my guys for battling back and making a game of it. Even into the fourth quarter we cut it back to single digits there and had our chances, but they made plays. Hats off to them for making the plays when it counted.”

A pair of baskets by Josh Dehaven tied the game at 25-all early in the third, and Jerod Trent’s jumper gave the Bulldogs their first lead since 2-0. However, Isaly, who had a game-high six assists, tied it up with a basket before Bryant’s first of four 3-pointers gave the ‘Jackets the lead for good. Doddridge hung around in the third, with Trent’s left-handed layup cutting it to 35-33, but Bryant answered back-to-back treys at the 1:05 mark to make it 41-33. Isaly added a stepback 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it an 11-point game going into the fourth.

Doddridge (18-3) got within nine three times over the final eight minutes, but Williamstown withstood each rally attempt and led by as many as 20 down the stretch.

Doddridge County’s Jaden Solomon (33) looks to pass as Williamstown’s Lynken Joy (4) defends during Saturday's game at the Waco Center. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

“I thought we kept our composure when it was tight,” said Sauro, who got a team-high eight rebounds from Bryant, “and I thought that was the biggest difference.”

Jaden Solomon was a workhorse for the Bulldogs, finishing with 16 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks.

“He’s a big kid and a tough player,” Sauro praised. “I was really impressed with him. He does a really good job of catching the ball high and keeping it high. He’s a load in there. Our guys were doing everything they could, but he’s a big kid to move. Hats off to Doddridge County. I thought they played really well, but I thought our senior experience really kind of shined through there in the second half.”

Heston Hayes added 10 points while Trent chipped in eight.

Doddridge shot 40.3% (23 for 57) in the game but was just 1 for 10 from downtown. Williamstown finished 22 for 49 (44.9%) from the floor and 9 for 23 from beyond the arc.

THIRD PLACE

GLENVILLE — Isaac Hodges was unstoppable in his effort to lift Ritchie County past Braxton County 60-34 in Saturday’s LKC third place game at the Waco Center.

The Ritchie County standout scored 24 points, grabbed 22 rebounds and blocked six shots, all game-highs, en route to helping the Rebels improve to 13-6.

Rhett Johnson added 13 points, Garrett Flesher netted nine and Jenner Keen chipped in eight for RCHS, which missed all six of its 3-point attempts.

Defensively, Ritchie held the Eagles to 27% (12 for 45) from the floor. BCHS (13-6) got 15 points from Logan Baldwin. Steven Boggs added six points and grabbed a team-best eight boards.

Ritchie led 11-10 after one and 21-18 at halftime, but dominated the third quarter 18-6 to go up 39-24 headed into the fourth.