Bulldogs win in double OT to claim 1st state title in 50 years

Fort’s Owen Jackson sets state record for scoring in state title game at 53

By Randy Arrington

RICHMOND, March 13 — A single player can be dominant, but it takes an entire team to win a championship. While Fort Chiswell’s superstar set a state record and dazzled fans from Wythe County, the Luray Bulldogs leaned on a series of “heroes”, who in their own moment, shined brightly under the lights of the Siegel Center and brought home the first boys basketball state title in 50 years.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this group…this group has meant so much to Luray basketball, and to me,” LHS head coach Matt Huff said after the game. “It’s a special group, and it’s a special night.”

Friday night’s VHSL Class 1 state championship lived up to the billing of a title bout. While Luray lead by as much as 10 points with 5:50 left in the third quarter, the entire game proved to be a back-and-forth battle featuring 11 lead changes, eight ties, two overtime periods, and a new scoring record for a state championship game (among all six classes in VHSL).

“What a high school basketball state championship game…tooth-and-nail all the way,” Coach Huff said in the post-game interview. (See full post-game interviews below.)

Then, as with any extended-play contest, there was the foul trouble.

“We talked about being relentless, never stopping, keep attacking,” Coach Huff said. “When Riley fouled out, and Matthew fouled out and it looked gloomy, but the guys didn’t quit. They just kept attacking…they were relentless all night, and we were able to get it done because those just did not quit. Our football program has a saying, ‘All grit, no quit,’ and man it was all grit and no quit here tonight.”

It took a gut full of grit to get past Fort Chiswell’s Owen Jackson. The three-sport, all-state athlete surpassed 1,000 career points just eight games into his sophomore campaign. Jackson has now surpassed 1,500 points after hitting a new state championship record 53 points against Luray. It’s the third time he’s scored more than 50 points. No other member of the Pioneers broke double digits on Friday. Kenton Sutphin had nine, while Ty Crockett added seven.

“Those guys, man, they were scrappy,” Coach Huff said of Fort. “No. 2, Owen Jackson, you can’t say enough about that guy, he is a bucket.”

Senior Matthew Owens lead four Bulldogs in double digits with 21 points. The amazing thing is that Owens surpassed 20 points, while actually having an “off” night — going 1-for-10 from three-point range and 5-for-22 from the floor. Connor Hilliard posted 18 points in the state championship, while juniors Ayden Haddock and Will Judy recorded 14 and 11, respectively.

The first half of Friday night’s state championship played out pretty evenly. Both teams took 29 shots, with Luray hitting 10 and Fort making eight. Turnovers were almost even at about a half dozen each, and both teams went 4-of-6 at the line. Luray carried a three-point lead into the second frame and a four-point advantage into halftime.

The state title bout would prove to be a physical contest all night long.

“It was nasty, I’m not going to lie,” Hilliard said during a post-game interview, donning his No. 1 jersey with a large rip in the center of the collar — which he now plans to frame. “It was physical. We were going at each other, getting in each other’s faces… that’s basketball.”

In the third quarter, Fort Chiswell went on a 28-21 run to carry a three-point lead into the fourth. The Pioneers only missed two shots during the third period and exploded for a 9-0 run at one point, after being down 10 with 5:50 left (36-26). Jackson would score 17 of Fort’s 28 points.

The lead would change five times in the fourth. Each team would commit a turnover and go 1-for-2 at the line in the final 30 seconds. During that short stretch, Owens picked up his third and fourth fouls (within 10 seconds of each other). Regulation would end with Jackson hitting a buzzer beater to tie the game at 61-61 and send the state championship to overtime.

COMPLETE POST-GAME INTERVIEWS AT VCU SIEGEL CENTER – FRIDAY, MARCH 13

After matching Jackson 2-for-2 at the line in the four-minute overtime period to tie the game at 63-63, Owens would draw his fifth foul with 1:44 remaining and his team trailing by three.

“For me, I always trust my teammates,” Owens said. “Obviously I got down a little bit, but at the end of the day all I can do in that moment is be their cheerleader…that was my main thing, to just cheer them on and let them know that they got it. They’ve been working hard for this, so they can hold their own.”

Both teams grew increasingly aware of the foul count as both had multiple players in trouble.

“Every time Owen [Jackson] drove I just put my hands straight up,” Hilliard said.

“Yeah, he got on me at one of the timeouts because I was like ‘why didn’t you step over because he was driving’ and he said ‘I got four fouls’,” Coach Huff recalled of Hilliard, “and I looked around and said yeah, good call, we don’t need you out too.”

When senior Riley Benson fouled out with 45 seconds on the clock, Fort’s Landon Eversole went to the line up by one and pointing at his ring finger. However, his premature celebration didn’t account for two things — missing his first foul shot, and LHS junior Will Judy‘s ability to shine in clutch moments.

Judy hit a bucket with 29 second left in overtime to tie up the state championship once again at 68-68. Two missed shots by the Pioneers in the final seconds — reminiscent of the final seconds of the Region 1B championship against Rappahannock — sent the state title game into a second ovetime.

With two senior starters fouled out and two other starters in danger of fouling out, it was time for the Bulldogs to show everyone just what the future holds once their superstars gaduate in a couple of months.

“Every day in practice, those guys….Cole [Hilliard], and Aiden Cook, and Cade Horn, and those younger guys…they play against these guys every day,” Coach Huff said post-game, pointing to his three senior starters at the press conference. “So, it prepared them for when they get in moments like this.

“As we got late in the season and started to catch fire and gain momentum, those guys picked it up too…because they were like, hey the guys we’re playing here aren’t as good as the guys I’m going up against in practice. So it’s really paid off for them.”

“Big plays from the young guys,” Coach Huff continued. “Cole is a sophomore, and he is a dog on defense. He brings a lot of energy, a lot of fire, a lot of passion, and he came up big for us tonight. And Aiden Cook, he’s a scorer. He can score, but for two years he’s been behind Blake Jenkins, he’s been behind Matthew Owens, he’s been behind Connor Hilliard…that are all-state, all-region, all the above, and so he hasn’t really been able to shine, and tonight when those guys were out, he was able to step up and other guys were able to step up, and they did…they proved we belong here, and we got it done.”

Jackson would score all 14 points for the Pioneers in the second overtime, including a pair of three-pointers (one at the buzzer) and going 4-for-4 at the line.

But it was too little, too late. Luray’s bench played like veterans and held the lead throughout the final period. At one point, they went on a 6-for-6 stretch at the line and built a six-point lead.

“These guys…they fought, they never quit…Matthew fouled out, nobody got down. We said in the huddle we’re gonna win this game….got it to double overtime, and these guys pulled it out,” Coach Huff said.

“When I fouled out….well, they are pretty used to me fouling out now, but I definitely felt like a proud dad watching them step up and make some big shots, it was amazing,” Benson said after the game.

“We said from the beginning of the year that this was the year to do if we are going to do it,” Hilliard said. “It hasn’t been done in 50 years, so it was really something special for us. We wanted the big three — district, region and state — and we ended up getting ’em.”

A core group of players on this state championship team, started forming a bond on the court at a young age.

“All of us, we’ve worked for this since were in second grade. We talked about it. We played AAU growing up. We thought maybe we could have done it earlier, but then we found out John Marshall was just like ridiculous,” Owens said during post-game interviews, noting last season’s loss to the Justices in a state semifinal. “So yeah, part of the goal is definitely complete, but I’m definitely excited to further my athletic and educational career at JMU and definitely want to make some moves there. But as far as high school, this has always been the dream, so I feel accomplished at the high school level for sure.”

“They’ve been winning championships since they were in second or third grade,” Coach Huff said of his senior class. “When they became sophomores we won our first region title, as juniors we won our second one, and then had to go play the John Marshall that it was, and you know…and then this year they got a third region title and now they capped it all off with a state title, I mean these guys have made Luray history…

“I would have to go and look at some records,” Coach Huff continued, “but they probably have the most wins all-time right now as individuals in Luray, which will get broken next year by Ayden Haddock because he played as a freshman when these guys started winning, so he’ll probably break it next year. But these guys have set the standard, they have set the bar…you get a once in a lifetime group and you have to do something with it, and we were blessed to do something with it.”

There were doubters along the way…those uncertain that this Bulldog squad could reach its full potential.

“We’ve always used the doubt as motivation to push us,” Owens said. “We just go out there every night and just play our hardest. I would definitely say that motivated us because I remember back when we were sophomores, nobody ever thought that we would make it to a region championship. We won it against a really good Clarke team… the next year we lost to Central three times, twice in the regular season and once in the post season, and ended up beating them. So this year, people would say you lost two seniors, blah, blah, blah…but at the end of the day we just always use those things as motivation to just push us to be better teammates and better players.”

While there may have been some who sat out this magical ride, Bulldog Nation grew to great heights during the 2025-2026 basketball season, with sell-out crowds, deafening home games, and as it turns out, they travel pretty well.

“It was awesome because the last couple of years, the further we went, the more crowd we got, and the more we just fed off of it,” Coach Huff said. “And this year, the two state games at home, just having packed houses was just awesome, and then everybody to make the drive down here [to Richmond] on a Friday night at 8 o’clock, you know, a late game … yeah, it definitely fueled our guys, and the student’s section is great.

“The community support has just been outstanding,” Huff continued. “When I played at Clarke County, I thought the community support was phenomenal …. and then I got here and saw the community support that Luray has done, and I don’t think it can be topped.”

Sitting in the post-game press conference, Coach Huff jokes about having to buy three new uniforms before next season because the seniors sitting beside him won’t be there, and they want keepsakes from the big game. How will he fill the hole left by the absence of Owens, Hilliard and Benson? All one needs to do is watch the film of the second overtime in the state championship.

“As far as attacking the basket, he’s probably the best at getting to the basket,” Coach Huff said of junior Ayden Haddock. “So, we were able to find him in some space and late he made some plays, attacking the basket, hitting some big shots and getting some big rebounds for us.

“But Ayden Haddock, he’s been a kid, since he’s been a freshman with us doing those things, so next year he’s gonna have a little bit bigger role, obviously, which I think some people will be surprised at what he can do….but he’s been all we can ask for and more.”

With a strong core returning — Luray retains at least one Hilliard — the Bulldogs will remain competitive next season. But for now, they are enjoying the moment… a moment that has eluded the Bulldogs since 1976.

“This group has meant so much to Luray basketball, and to me,” Coach Huff said after the game. “It’s a special group, and it’s a special night.”