St. Marys junior Brynnley Bulluck, left, was named captain of the first team for the West Virginia Class A All-State Girls Basketball Team. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

St. Marys junior Brynnley Bulluck overcame a slow start to the season and was the driving force in helping the Blue Devils secure their first Class A state championship since 1990 when they dethroned Gilmer County, 45-35.

Bulluck, who a year ago was a second team honoree in double-A, was named captain of this year’s small school first team as selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.

“I’ll tell you what. First of all, it’s well deserved simply because of all the time and energy and sacrifice for herself and her parents over the years. This just didn’t happen overnight,” admitted SMHS head coach Fred King. “She was born with God-gifted talent. No doubt about that, but over the years she’s acquired a very, very high IQ in basketball. What’s neat about her situation is she can play any of the positions as you see on my team. She can handle it. She can play inside.

“Whatever we need her to do, she can do. If we need something inside. Maybe a basket. Maybe a good post-up situation. It’s going to happen. If we need a shot out on the wing, obviously, she’s going to make it. If she needs to bring the ball down the floor and maybe create a certain tempo that we need at the time, and when she gets downhill, people have to guard her. What’s really neat about her is she finds the open person. She always has those eyes going. She’s proficient in her game over her years.”

Bulluck, who knocked down 71 triples, shot 75 percent at the free-throw line and 47 percent from the floor, averaged 25.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 3.5 steals and a block.

Gilmer County senior Ava Dobbins was the only player to earn a nod on the first team for a third time. The Titan pivot, who shot 62 percent, averaged a double-double with 15.1 points and 10.8 boards to go along with 3.7 blocks, 1.7 assists and 1.8 steals an outing.

“My goodness. She boxed out the best I have ever seen in my life against the two twins, Ava and Blair,” King added of Bulluck in the title game.

“Her whole game really morphed this season I thought. Her maturity for us, being able to handle adversity, was a lot better and also she’s a very good leader and a captain. She’s president of our junior class. Out on the floor and the locker room she really helped our younger kids get to where they needed to get to. More than just a player, she’s a leader. She’s a captain and she’s a good kid. A very good student here as well.

“Her maturity in adverse situations tremendously improved. She sprained her ankle very severely here at the regional championship in volleyball. The first month when we went to Williamstown, she was only like 60 percent, but she still played. She never got to play in a scrimmage. Really, she didn’t kick it into gear probably until about halfway through the season. Through that adversity she became a better player. She makes great decisions because of her basketball IQ and the other kids around her just seem to kind of chime in.”

Tug Valley’s Bailee Hall was the lone repeat selection on the first team. The senior Panther also averaged a double-double of 10.2 points and 14.9 rebounds to go with 2.3 steals and 1.4 assists.

Senior Haven Deskins of Tug Valley, last year’s second team captain, earned a nod on the top unit after averaging 13.2 points, 4.0 boards, 2.4 assists and 3.2 steals for the state semifinalists who fell to St. Marys.

St. Marys and Gilmer County also had a pair of teammates on the top unit with Blue Devil junior Anna Bennett (12.7 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, 3.3 spg, 50 percent FG, 70 percent FT) and Titan senior Lena Frymier, who overcame a knee injury en route to knocking down 46 triples to go with averages of 9.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 steals.

Ritchie County junior Elsa Law, who like Bulluck made second team in Class AA a year ago, found her way to the first team after putting up 20.8 points, 8.0 boards, 5.3 assists and 5.9 steals a night. Along with averaging nearly a block a game, she guided the Rebels to the semifinals and finished with 55 treys while reaching the free-throw line 151 times where she converted at 79 percent.

Class A state quarterfinalists Tucker County and Pocahontas County were each represented on the first team. Mountain Lion senior Makenna Evans averaged 10.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.7 steals, while junior Warrior Allyson Taylor averaged a double-double with 15.9 points and 14.3 boards to go with 1.8 assists and 2.5 steals.

Also earning her way to the first team was Parkersburg Catholic junior Ellie Kinnison. The Crusaderette drained 75 treys at 44 percent, shot nearly 80 percent from the charity stripe and averaged 15.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.9 steals.

Gilmer County senior Blair Dobbins, who averaged 9.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and blocks and 1.1 steals, was named captain of the second team.

The remainder of the all-state second unit included Greater Beckley Christian junior Leah Adkins, Wirt County sophomore Breigyn Dawson, Summit Christian sophomore Abby Greer, Cameron sophomore Kendra Thomas, St. Marys sophomore Laney Watkins, Wood County Christian freshman Brooke Arnold along with the senior trio of Valley’s Laken Dawson, Tygarts Valley’s Sarah Defibaugh and Paw Paw’s Shayla Tanouye.

Wooden plaques in the shape of West Virginia that include the player’s name, school, licensed WVSWA logo, year of the honoree are available to all-state first team, second team and honorable mentions and can be purchased from the Bear Wood Company through its website at Bearwoodcompany.com