RICHMOND — Robin Dotson does not strike one as a superstitious guy.
Central coach Robin Dotson keeps his eyes on the action during Saturday's win over Luray in the Class 2 championship game.
For the most part, he’s not.
Except for when the state basketball championship is concerned.
For the seventh time in his career, Dotson wore the same clothing scheme — khaki pants, a light blue oxford shirt and a red tie — to coach a state championship game. And for the seventh time, Dotson coached his team to a state title.
The Central Lady Warriors took a 62-59 comeback win over Luray on Saturday in the VHSL Class 2 title game at VCU's Siegel Center.
The final seconds of dramatic victory for Wise Central @tnsportslive pic.twitter.com/6CANJXzUEb
— Kevin Mays (@kevmays) March 12, 2022
The state title was sixth for Central since 2014. Dotson’s other state championship came in 2002 at the now-closed J.J. Kelly.
Whether it was Dotson’s wardrobe, a tenacious team defense, the floor leadership and command of freshman Emmah McAmis and senior Jill Sturgill or a combination of all three, Saturday’s championship was one of the more challenging for Central (26-5).
The Lady Warriors — after finding themselves down by 10 points, 44-34, to defending state champion Luray (27-3) entering the final frame — came up with their best quarter of the season.
Central took advantage of seven Luray turnovers and outscored the Bulldogs 28-15 in the fourth to come away with the dramatic win.
“I’ve had teams be down in the first half big and come back and win a state championship, but never had a team in the fourth quarter (come back),” Dotson said. “It was pure heart and just unbelievable as a coach to sit here and watch it.”
NOW-OR-NEVER RALLY
McAmis powered the fourth-quarter comeback. She scored 11 of her game-high 34 points, pulled down four of her team-high 10 rebounds and dished off two of her team-best three assists in the period.
She looked at the score before taking the court for the critical final frame.
“I saw the scoreboard and I was kind of getting a little down,” McAmis said. “I said I can’t get down because if I want to win this game and if we want to win then we’ll come back and it’ll work out.
“I really just wanted it bad.”
McAmis’ offensive output gave her 683 points for the season, breaking VHSL scoring record for freshmen. She bettered the mark of 650, which was set by William Monroe's Sam Brunelle — now in her third year playing for Notre Dame.
Sturgill finished with 10 points and six steals in her final basketball game as a Lady Warrior. Five of her points came in the fourth quarter.
“It was hard,” Sturgill said of battling back after being down most of the second half. “It really is, but you just have to keep going and believe that your team can pull through.
“I went into the fourth quarter thinking we had it. We just had to keep pushing and not give up.”
DEFENSE
One major component in Central’s successful season has been its defense.
It was no different in the state title game.
With his team trailing and going up against the state's top scorer in Luray’s Emilee Weakley, Dotson had one more scheme to pull out of his playbook: increase the defensive intensity.
“We had to pick the pressure up a little bit and we went man-to-man pressure there at the end. We put two on Weakley to make them throw the ball into someone else," he said. “We looked up and we only had two team fouls, so we went man-to-man. We needed to foul a little bit in case we needed to send them to the line.”
“The pressure I think was the difference for us.”
Luray's seven fourth-quarter turnovers were part of a season-high 27 for the game.
“We were right where we wanted to be through 3½ quarters,” Bulldogs coach Joe Lucas said. “They extended their pressure a little bit.
“They had a bunch of fouls to give at the end, which they were able to use to their advantage to keep us from getting the looks that they wanted.”
DOWN TO THE WIRE
Central never gained the lead in the second half until the final 28 seconds. McAmis hit a basket and then hit a free throw to put the Lady Warriors up 60-59.
After Luray missed a shot on the other end, McAmis knocked down two more free throws to finish off the scoring.
Luray's 3-point attempt at the buzzer fell off the mark.
ONE OF THE BEST
Weakley, a senior, closed her high school career in stellar fashion. Entering the game with 2,571 career points, she led the Bulldogs with 31 points and 13 rebounds.
Sophomore Jaidyn McClung added 15 points and eight rebounds for Luray.
Bayleigh Allison scored nine points in her final basketball game for the Lady Warriors.
(This story has been corrected to show that Emmah McAmis broke the freshman record for points in a season.)
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