RICHMOND, Va. – The Galax girls basketball team made program history Friday night, defeating Luray 57–39 to capture the school’s first state championship in girls basketball.
Galax set the tone early in the VHSL Class 1 title game, using strong outside shooting to build an early lead and maintain control throughout the contest. The Maroon Tide never trailed and steadily pulled away to secure the historic victory.
The championship capped a dominant season for Galax, which finished 26–3 and ended the year on a strong run through the postseason.
I mean we all knew each other but not really well. We had to get to know each other and work together and play hard. It wasn’t easy and we had our ups and downs and we had our not getting along sometimes, but we ended up working together and playing together and supporting each other," said Kaci Young.
“There weren’t a lot of people there when we started, but it started to grow. As we started winning and we started to become more successful and then they just, they’ve done everything for us,” said Head Coach Patrick Puckett. “I mean I can’t explain how many different donations and stuff like that as far as like food, and the whole community just said we’re going to show up and they started showing up. It was crowds like I haven’t seen there since Coach Brown, who is on staff. I haven’t seen that since their state tournament runs.”
Later in Richmond, Luray edged Fort Chiswell 84–82 in double overtime despite a heroic performance by Owen Jackson.
Jackson delivered a historic performance in the loss, scoring 53 points. The total set a new record for the most points by an individual in a VHSL state championship game, surpassing the previous mark of 47 set by Mac McClung in 2018.
Despite Jackson’s scoring outburst, Luray ultimately prevailed in the extra periods to claim the title, ending Fort Chiswell’s championship bid after a tightly contested game that kept fans on edge through two overtimes.
“It’s been a road for the four years but I wouldn’t go to battle with any other guys,” said Kenton Sutphin. “So proud of us.”
“They’ve been together. They’ve played together for a long time. So it’s sad. I appreciate our community. Our community has been behind us. Unreal support. Our school. The school system has done a great job. Couldn’t ask for a better place to be,” concluded Head Coach Derrick Jackson.