State Champions of 1945: The Normantown Vikings

By Matthew Cross

Midway through the 3rd quarter, the powerhouse Logan Wildcats held an 8 point lead, and after being ahead for most of the game it seemed  their opponent—a small school from Gilmer County—would eventually fall to what many believed was the better team. But the Normantown Vikings, with a 17-1 season record and 7 tournament wins, didn’t get that far on luck alone.  With 3 players over 6 feet tall (big size for those days) the boys rallied 14 straight points to take a 44-38 lead. The Wildcats returned 6 to tie with 4:45 to go.  

The largest audience to attend a high school tournament game to date, nearly 4,500 were rocking the WVU Field House in Morgantown! Earl “Tex” Gainer and Dick Bennett, part of the towering front line under the hoop, scored the final six to put them at 50. With 2:15 left Logan then dropped a free throw and 4 chuckers (old sportswriter jargon) to draw within one, 50-49.  But with 15 seconds left the country school from Normantown held tight to the ball, the dream, and the state title. Roll Vikings Roll!

In the spring of 1945 there were no class distinctions based on population and attendance. Back then, West Virginia state basketball tournaments brought forth the winners from sectional and regional competition, game by game victors until only two remained to battle it out and claim the glory. That’s what made those Normantown Vikings so special.  The coach, the players, and the whole community of that little ole’ town in Gilmer County came together for a phenomenal accomplishment.  

Records show it as the second smallest school to win the title. One article states 47 male students of 112 total in grades 9-12 who were eligible to play.  During that time of World War II, many 18-year-old men were drafted into the service. One of their star players, Glennard Vannoy, the 6’2″ swift-shooting guard who was named captain of the all-state team, did not return for his senior season in order to fulfill the call of duty.  When many items were rationed for the war effort, such as gasoline and rubber, the community pitched in their rationing stamps to buy gasoline to get the team to away games. During the season, one of the officials, Newt Anderson of the Buchannon area, noticed Tex Gainer’s sneakers were wearing out and loaned him a spare pair. Of course, most of us from West Virginia know well the spirit and generosity of country folk. It runs in our veins.

It was because of the war that coach Eugene “Bootjack” Williams got his name in the books. Due to a physical impairment, he was deferred from the service. He had no previous coaching experience, and after a few years filling in he returned to his role as a schoolteacher.  He said of that ’45 squad, “Never anywhere have I met a finer group of boys. They’re gentlemen, every one of them.”  When recounting the formula for that season’s success, he stated, “They paced themselves marvelously and never were addicted to that common trait in high school teams to blow up and start running wild.”

Loyalty was another attribute. In younger years, Gainer and Vannoy were coached by Frank Martino, who was himself called into the service. While stationed with the Navy near the Great Lakes, Martino asked for leave to make the trip back to the hills to see his boys play in the tournament where he sat beside them on the bench.  Betty Cross, one of two cheerleaders for the team recalls, “I remember in the fall of that year, 1944.  Tex Gainer, he was a next door neighbor, said to me, ‘Betty Jean, we’re going to win this basketball season for coach Martino. We’re going to win them all.'”

And all but one they did, losing only to Spencer in the regular season. Viking forward Carl Conrad remembers he played center for Tex that game. “I thought we’d done pretty good because with Gainer and Vannoy sitting on the bench (with sprained ankles) they never even started.” Both Whitesel and Conrad remember the old coach and players having success in junior high championships.”They were either runner-up or won it, I’m not sure which.”

With no slight to Coach Williams, Conrad observes, “He was not much of a technical coach.”  A reasonable statement considering it was only his second year coaching.  But the savvy and teamwork of the players made up for that. “If we had difficulty guarding someone, like the point guard, the other forward Spike Duskey and I would switch men.  The coach never said anything about it. We did that quite a bit. We could tell when it wasn’t going well, we self-adjusted.”  He and Richard Bennett transferred to Normantown when Rosedale High School closed. “Dickie Bennett was 6’3, about 190 pounds, much bigger and stronger. I was 5’11 and 129 pounds.”  But all champions have that competitive edge, and Conrad’s becomes evident. “Dick and I were both Rosedale kids. One-on-one with Dick, I could take him any time I wanted to.”

There was a special chemistry to the junior class of 1945 at Normantown High.  “Nine members of that 11-member team were in our class, along with the two cheerleaders and team manager,” says Betty.  Her good friend Jean Roberts and she cheered the team on that season, even when it was difficult to get to the games. “We played Webster Springs. There was a big snowstorm and I wanted to go in the worst way. I told Dee (her younger sister) to go in and cry and beg daddy to take us,” she laughs, “He finally agreed, so Jean and I and Dee, probably mother and Charles (her younger brother) went, daddy took us.  Anyway, I thought we were going to be late for the game. We were going around this hill in Webster Springs and he said, ‘Betty, get your foot off the gas feed!  I wondered why this car was going faster than it should be.'”

Betty won an award for best cheerleader at the sectional tournament, but at 87 years of age doesn’t recall what it was. Having now called Morgantown home for the past 65 years, Betty shares, “The thing that I remember about that final game in Morgantown…there were so many people there who were not from Normantown but who followed us along and cheered with us.”  It’s easy to picture the shared joy of it all with the following words from a New York Times reporter. “The sight of a Normantown farmer dressed in his Sunday suit and waving his balked hat in the air tugged at your heartstrings, and was something none of us will ever forget.”

Team manager Doug Carpenter moved to Normantown in the first grade and remembers well the early teams with Coach Martino. “Two years running they won the county championship in seventh and eighth grade.” Growing up together in the same community, and attending Normantown School all 12 years created great bonds of respect. “We were just like brothers and sisters.”  When asked if the players tried to be tidy for his sake or made a mess he laughed. “There was always a mess to clean up, but when you’re winning you don’t mind.”

Carpenter recalls Coach Williams attended Glenville State College for his teaching degree, and was only 24 years old when he came to Normantown.  “He had had a professor over there, an older lady by the name of Bessie Bell.  She had Coach Williams in many classes.  The afternoon before the final game that night she sent him a telegram that I’ll never forget. ‘You are making history tonight. Write a big chapter!'”

The closing of Rosedale High School was a major contributor to the talents of that junior class. Transfers included four of the top six players with Conrad, Bennett, Spike Duskey, and starting freshman guard Blaine Wright. Gainer and Vannoy were the local foundation, both earning all-state team honors. Jerry Roberts was a substitute, and one of the girls that came over, Geraldine Marks, recalls “Those kids started playing basketball before they even started school. The gym was open, that’s what all the kids did. I missed a lot of math class that winter because most of that team was in my class and Coach Williams (the math teacher) would tell us what to do and then take the team into practice.  Every week they’d come back and they won, so it was practice again.” 

It’s hard to imagine how exciting and intriguing it was for the Normantown community and the whole state. Geraldine continues, “I came back to Normantown on Monday after the tournament. I don’t know what it was made of, probably 12 yards of muslin, a big sign across the road said Normantown State Champs. 33 and 119 was the road that all of them would travel to get back to Charleston and points south. That was so they’d know where Normantown was.”

“There was a special chemistry to the junior class of 1945 at Normantown High.  “Nine members of that 11-member team were in our class, along with the two cheerleaders and team manager,” says Betty.”

It all came together.  A young, inexperienced coach with insight on how to make his team function to the best of its ability; a group of dedicated, patient, hard working country boys who lived up to their team slogan “Sportsmanship Always”; a small community of parents and friends that provided the physical and spiritual support for their boys and girls; and—let’s just call it for what it is—the magic of the hills.

In the spring of 2013, the WVSSAC celebrated 100 years of high school basketball tournament action. My mother Betty received an invitation to attend the special banquet at the Charleston Civic Center and an introduction at halftime of one of the tournament games. We picked up Geraldine along the way, and later that night on the hardwood floor people once again cheered for the Normantown Vikings of 1945. Manager Doug Carpenter wore his original team jacket. It was in great shape, you know managers are good at taking care of things!  We were joined by relatives of Blaine Wright and Kenneth Vannoy, the son of Glennard. Carl Conrad could not make it, but I met him a few years back at the annual Normantown School reunion.  Memorial Day weekend is held very close by Viking alumni, they continue to honor the school and each other by making the trip in. Roll call for that year now has few to rise and stand, but the school spirit carries on.

The year 2025 marked the 80th anniversary of the Normantown High School State Champion basketball team.  Many things have changed, and many of that cast of players have passed on, yet some of it all remains in the sparkle, laughter, pride, and gratitude of these interviews.  Even the old Normantown School remains with the gymnasium. On a quiet day, one might still hear the echoes from crowds long gone—Roll Vikings Roll!