A look back…Northfork, W Va. Amazing Championships Run

In a tiny coal town in McDowell County, West Virginia, Northfork High School built one of the most unbelievable dynasties in American sports.

From 1974 to 1981 (they also won 71 and 84), the Northfork Blue Demons won eight straight West Virginia Class AA state basketball championships, a national record that still stands. For nearly a decade, this small Appalachian community became known far beyond state lines as the “Basketball Capital of the U.S.”

TV feature on Northfork High School Blue Demons

Patrick Boyd

The team was led by head coach Jennings Boyd, a math teacher whose discipline, fundamentals, and relentless expectations turned local kids into champions. Under Boyd, the Blue Demons compiled a staggering 307–62 record, regularly beating much larger schools. Home games at their packed gym, known as the Demon Den, felt more like major college matchups than high school ball.

For Northfork, basketball was more than a sport. In a town shaped by coal mining and economic hardship, the Blue Demons gave people pride, hope, and something to rally around. Entire communities traveled with the team, and their story later became the focus of documentaries like Blue Demons: A West Virginia Legacy.

Plus you could get a Demon Burger in town for decades.

The era came to a heartbreaking close when Northfork High School became Northfork Middle School in 1985 due to population decline, later fully shutting down in 2002.

But the legacy never faded. Decades later, the Blue Demons remain a symbol of what a small Appalachian town can accomplish when talent, discipline, and community all move in the same direction.

*Important Note – A private school, St. Anthony High School in New Jersey, did win 9 championships officially in 1991. The Blue Demons still hold the public school record for AA.

Courtesy : Creepalachia