.jpg)
Dunlap, Mohler Adams Led Blues To Three Class 1 Crowns
Four years later, the accolades are still pouring in for former Parry McCluer High School girls basketball stars Madison Dunlap and Peyton Mohler Adams.
Two of the key cogs from the Fighting Blues’ recent run of three straight Virginia High School League Class 1 state championships had their jerseys retired in a special ceremony at the PM gym on Saturday, shortly after the current PM squad had defeated rival Rockbridge County 47-24 in Buena Vista.
Adams’ No. 10 and Dunlap’s No. 31 were officially retired with both players – along with a slew of friends and family and several former teammates – in attendance.
“This is awesome,” Dunlap said. “I knew that we always did a great job as a team, and we always worked together. It really is truly amazing that we were able – especially Peyton and I – to celebrate this together.”
The duo’s individual accomplishments certainly stand apart. Dunlap scored 1,353 career points and finished second all-time at PM with 760 rebounds. Adams – then known as Peyton Mohler – tallied 1,087 points and a school-record 649 assists, with the latter number placing her fourth all-time in VHSL history.
Each won a Pioneer District Player of the Year award, and both appeared on numerous all-region and all-state teams. Adams was twice chosen as the Class 1 State Player of the Year by the Virginia High School Coaches Association.
But their team’s success is even more noteworthy. Across their four years on the varsity squad, the Blues went 105-13, won four district championships and advanced to four state semifinals. PM would cut down the nets in Richmond three straight years from 2017-2019.
And Dunlap and Adams will be the first to acknowledge that they didn’t go it alone. The nine-player 2019 senior class featured a wealth of talent, with Jayla Baker, Emma Camden, Tristen Clark, Allison Coleman, Hailey Huffman, Maggie Patterson and Makenna Smith all playing key roles in PM’s unprecedented success.
“We obviously had a really unique group,” said Adams, who’s now in the middle of her senior season with the Davis & Elkins women’s basketball team. “We’re all still really close, and we see each other when we can.
“It’s unbelievable,” she added about the jersey retirement. “It really is such an exciting thing.”
