Girls State Basketball Tournament: James Monroe leaves no doubt in AA State Champiosnhip win over Williamstown

Lady Mavericks led 18-5 after one quarter and cruised to a 50-26 win

With just over a minute to play in the third quarter of the Class AA Girls basketball State Championship game, the James Monroe student section rang out, "I believe we will win."

While in normal scenarios that would have been way to early, the student section had seen this movie play out before, with Oscar winning precision.

After mowing through the majority of the competition this year, No. 1-seed James Monroe (25-1) held a 38-21 lead on No. 2-seed Williamstown and was in full control just prior to the end of the third quarter.

The young Mavericks never lost stride over the final nine minutes and rolled past the Yellow Jackets 50-26, winning the first girls basketball state title at James Monroe since 2002.

Head coach Shari Helvey, along with players Mya Dunlap, Lydia Dunlap and Kendall Long discussed the game with the media.

Coming off of a tough day shooting the ball from behind the arc in the semifinal game against Wyoming East, Mya Dunlap drilled a 3-pointer less then a minute into the contest for a 5-0 lead and the momentum gained never ceased.

When the first quarter ended, the Lady Mavs were in full gallop, holding an 18-5 lead. Key to the advantage was a 9-0 run to close the quarter where Mya Dunlap drilled another long ball.

It was a deficit that the Yellow Jackets chased all game with no luck.

Junior Mya Dunlap led all scorers in the game with 21 points (7 rebounds), making five of her six attempts from deep.

Younger sister Lydia Dunlap (freshman) recorded another double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Kendall Long added eight points.

All three were named to the All-Tournament team with Mya Dunlap being on honored as the Girls Tournament Most Valuable Player.