A small community in Gilmer County supported its own history-making achievement as World War II neared its end.
written by and photo courtesy of MATTHEW CROSS
MIDWAY THROUGH THE THIRD QUARTER of the West Virginia state basketball tournament in Morgantown in March 1945, the powerhouse Logan Wildcats held an 8-point lead. It seemed their opponent, a small school from Gilmer County, would fall to what many believed was the better team.
But the Normantown Vikings, with a 17–1 season record and seven tournament wins, hadn’t gotten that far on luck alone. With three players over 6 feet—tall 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. Earl “Tex” Gainer and Dick Bennett, part of the Vikings’ towering front line under the hoop, scored the final 6 to put the team at 50. With 2:15 left, Logan then dropped a free throw and four chuckers to draw within a point: 50-49. But as the clock ran out, the country school from Normantown held tight—to the ball, the dream, and the state title.
In the 1940s, there were no class distinctions based on population and attendance. Back then, 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.
Records show that Normantown was the second-smallest school ever to win the title: 47 male students of 112 total in grades 9–12 who were eligible to play. Many 18-year-old men were drafted into the service in those wartime years. One of the team’s star players, Glennard Vannoy, the 6’2″ swift-shooting guard who was named captain of the all-state team, fulfilled the call of duty and did not return for his senior season. And many items were rationed for the war effort, such as gasoline and rubber—the community contributed rationing stamps to buy gasoline to get the team to away games. During the season, one of the officials, Newt Anderson of Buchannon, noticed Gainer’s sneakers were wearing out and loaned him a spare pair.
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 Cross. She and her good friend Jean Roberts cheered on the team that season, even when it was difficult to get to the games. “We played Webster Springs,” she recalls, in one example. “There was a big snowstorm, and I wanted to go in the worst way.” She laughs as she recounts telling her younger sister, Dee, to “beg Daddy to take us.” After he finally agreed to drive them, Cross—along with her family and Roberts—headed out. “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!’”
Cross won a cheerleading award at the sectional tournament, although, at 97 years of age, she doesn’t recall what it was. “The thing that I remember about that final game in Morgantown”—where she has lived for the past 65 years—”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 Charleston 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.”
The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the Normantown High School State Champion basketball team. The gymnasium at the old Normantown school sits vacant now, but on a quiet day, one might still hear the echoes of crowds long gone. Roll, Vikings, roll!
READ MORE ARTICLES FROM WV LIVING’S FALL 2025 ISSUE
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