This is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

[LOUD TRAIN PASSING] [CROWD CHEERING] Deep in the heart of Appalachia, in a small valley sets, a town that is home of champions.

A town that would produce a team whose name would reach beyond its mountain borders and travel farther than anyone could have imagined.

Northfork became the basketball capital of the world, not just the United States, in that period of time.

Northfork was a ball club that you didn't want to play them, only because you didn't want to get beat.

During the seventies and eighties, a basketball team took center stage with a pool of natural talent, strong leadership and dedication from passionate fans.

It was always where number one were number one and the Blue Demon spirit, the fans, the supporters all carried that.

Join me as we take a look at this team's meteoric rise and their untimely fall.

The County Board of Education decided to close the school down spontaneously.

I believe that's a political decision.

And it came from jealousy.

This is the story of the Northfork Blue Demons.

When I was a little boy growing up in southern West Virginia, I spent a lot of time in McDowell County, particularly in North Fork and Keystone.

During family get togethers, I'd overhear my aunts and uncles talking about the nostalgic times of growing up in the area.

Eventually, the conversations would turn to them telling stories about the Norfolk Blue Demons and how great they used to be.

I used to think, Well, it must be a big deal because they have a big sign at the front of town during the creation of this film.

I would interview members of my family who were on the team, along with members of the community, and learn about the legacy of the Blue Demons, which would stretch much farther than their eight championship winning streak.

[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING] The town of Norfolk was incorporated in 1901.

Its name comes from its location on the Northern Fork of the Elkhorn River.

The river served as a divider between the town of Norfolk and its neighboring community CLARK.

In 1948, Clark was consolidated with Norfolk, turning it into the town.

We know today.

McDowell County was an economic engine in the state of West Virginia due to its large production of coal.

The wealth of these mines directly influenced local communities in the area.

(David) It was booming.

McDowell County used to be the richest county in the United States at one time.

and early seventies because of the coal fields.

A lot of coal mines.

There was a lot of people everywhere down in that area, not only just in Norfolk, but all surrounding communities.

Norfolk had everything.

The financial success from the mines and the promise of steady work drew residents from far beyond southern West Virginia.

People from foreign lands, such as Italy, France, Germany and Poland, each with their own individual talents.

The town was built that way.

Masons built the walls which are still standing.

The Italians brought their own talents and abilities.

People were coming to work in the mining industry because that was the highest paid industry there was.

During the sixties, America was going through a cultural shift as desegregation and integration were allowing African-Americans into establishments from which they'd been previously barred.

In 1966, 67 school year Elkhorn High School an African-American High School was merged with Norfolk Elkhorn High School to form Norfolk High School.

Everybody got along good.

You know, it was everybody knew everybody.

Everybody knew who was the bullies in town.

Everybody knew who was the good people.

Everybody knew.

You know, it was just a good mix in, you know.

As far as I'm concerned and the people that I remember, I hang out, hung out with.

And from the ones I knew my age group, everybody knew everybody.

It wasn't that, you know, there wasn't any hate in the air.

People often ask, well, did you all have problems at Norfolk High School when they integrated?

And the answer was, no, we didn't.

I said, one reason was that.

And of course my dad worked in the company store, but I said most of our dads worked in the coal mine and the moms knew each other shop together and all that kind of stuff.

And the kids played together.

So it wasn't anything, you know, any different, really.

It's not like we were, you know, met all new people that we'd never seen before and they were interacted with before.

Although it's hard to believe that there wasn't any racism in the town.

The veil of childhood and having being insulated from the harshness of the times might have played a factor.

(David) Naive steps in again.

I got along with white folks and black folks.

I really didn't see it because even the principal, even the police officer, the store owner, the dry cleaning man, the smokehouse man, everybody treated me well.

And I just thought that's the way it was.

But after I grew up and start hearing other people's stories on what used to go on around here.

But I do remember and I didn't take much into this.

The movie theater, the Freeman Theater, we always sat in the back, white folks said up front, and that never set in my mind because I was young and didn't know.

With such a diverse culture, perhaps the common bond of the working class was able to garner a certain amount of respect among the residents of Northfork.

My two uncles, David McDaniel and Mark Page, who we called Joe for short, grew up in Algoma, which sat just outside of one of the larger coal plants in Northfork.

(Joe) Everybody knew everybody.

Its a small community houses were stuffed they're compacted in.

I think we had like on one side of the road.

It was about eight to ten houses in one side and seven or eight on the other side.

And then you go across the creek and there was another little small community, but it was still part of Algoma.

And there were a lot of houses over there near the train track.

And, you know, everybody knew everybody.

(David) Everybody looked after each other.

If you did something four or five houses down, you get a whooping and you get sent back home and tell your family who whipped you, too.

When they were kids, Joe and David played basketball, not on blacktop, but dirt.

Creativity, passion and resourcefulness were skills shared by a lot of the youth in Northfork.

(Fred) Basketball was something I always thought on my trips when I would leave Beckley for an away game to go to Welch or wherever, and we go down through McDowell County.

Every place you would go by, where you knew a family lived.

You'd find a goal, a basketball goal on a tree, on a pole, none of this fancy fiberglass stuff, backboards that you see now.

None of that was there.

A lot of them didn't even have backboards.

We didnt have playgrounds we had and even when we played basketball, where we used to have to go up in the mountain cut our tree cut a tree, and then we'd get a.

They used to have a mella tabletops.

Mella ones.

We'll go get a mella table top and tacked it onto that tree And that would be our back board.

We made our own stuff around here, man, all the way.

We played all year round.

We played in the summertime.

We played in the fall.

We played in the winter.

If it wasn't snowing or if it was snowing, I can remember.

I can remember waiting for the snow to stop one time and it stopped snowing.

And I know when when it was snowing, the snow would be on a basketball goal right up the street from where we played in the field.

And so I went up real quick when it stopped snowing and I wanted to be the first one up there to shoot the ball and knock the snow off the nets So, oh, I just couldn't wait to get to that basketball court.

So I went up there and I took my time and made a shot and as soon as it went in.

And it went through the net all net and the snow just went everywhere.

And I can still today remember that feeling that, hey, I made that shot.

As Joe and David grew older, they knew they wanted to play for the Northfork Blue Demons, but little did they know that each of them would be a part of something greater.

Play as a team!

Do the things we're supposed to do!

The ball game is not over!

Understand, It's a ten point game fellas its 6 minutes to play yet.

That's a good basketball team that you're playing.

Now wake up and let's go.

Coach Jennings Boyd was a math teacher at Norfolk High School.

Not only did he apply his analytical teachings in the classroom, he also applied it on the court.

Jennings was an excellent educator.

He and his wife, he was dedicated in his endeavors in the coaching industry.

He was always there to help his students.

He had a style that fit the players.

I mean, he was easy going.

He would explain things as long as the players did what they were supposed to do.

He was, you know, calm, easy going and everything.

But if they didn't do what what they were supposed to do or they did something crazy, you know, he wasn't adverse to putting his foot down and saying, listen, fellas you're not going to do it this way.

If you are, you're going to go down to the end of the bench and who knows when you're going to get back up here to get it get back in the game.

When I would see Jennings Boyd come into a regular season game, he walked in and his kids walked in behind him.

There was no question who the leader on that ball club was.

There was no question who got the most respect on that ball club.

And that was something that I learned later on that Jennings Boyd didn't demand.

It was just something that they gave him because they respected him, because he was he was a leaders leader.

To people who didn't have real fathers.

He was like a father.

I had a father, but our rapport.

Me and his, I know it was good.

It was real good.

And he let you know when he's angry at you, he'll let you know when everything is good.

Coach Boyd, along with his assistant coach Henry Winkfield would harness the raw talent that was present in the youth of Northfork.

In 1971 Boyd would lead the Northfork Blue Demons to a 24 and 1 season and their first AA a state title game since 1959.

The setting for the game would be the West Virginia University Mountaineer Coliseum, which was completed just one year prior.

David would be one of the team captains during this period as they faced off against Gauley Bridge.

But he and the rest of the demons would soon find out that victory wasnt guaranteed.

(Gary) We weren't having a particularly good game in the first half shooting and we were down 13 points at halftime.

Coach Boyd didn't panic.

He just went through at halftime what we needed to do, what we needed to change.

(David) I can't remember us being down any time.

So and Coach Boyd this is the first time he came in fairly speechless and he said, fellas, he said we ain't playing bad ball.

They just out playing a little bit better.

And he said, Anybody have anything to say?

And I'm saying to myself, Well, I'm the captain and I want to have something to say.

So I stood up and did a little pep thing.

Fellas, we can do this.

So we went back out.

Coach said, Go ahead and press em fellas.

We used to press we press teams to death.

Came out start the third quarter and they scored two quick buckets and were down 17.

And that was dismal.

So I tried to give my speech and everything and so and coach, I was a forward my coach told me they go hit in the center.

(Gary) Then our shot started falling.

The press started working.

(David) We took the lead and the next thing you know, we was up by 13.

This is this is what the press did for us the press and those turnovers.

Ended up we beat them.

I'm thinking 7 points.

63 to 56.

Winning the state championship was a monumental moment for the town of Northfork.

David remembered that they were greeted with a hero's welcome when they returned Temptations.

That's when Cloud Nine was on, when the sound Cloud nine was out, just so happened.

We went out, bought us some hats and put em on.

We became the temptations.

Cloud Nine.

We was cloud nine and everything man.

Fire trucks from Northfork were up there and they led procession down Route 52 through Northfork through Keystone and people out on the streets waving and just a great amount of pride, the pride that everyone had in the team was tenfold after after the championship win.

Two years later, Joe would become the captain of the 74 Blue Demons and would win another coveted state title.

Unbeknownst to him, that singular win would set off a chain reaction that would cement the town and the team and the history in scholastic sports.

This was the beginning of an eight year streak of dominance.

(Joe) We as the class of 74, we would always say, Well, for that eight straight, it started with us.

We got em ready.

We got him ready.

We trained em well and we trained because we trained em well.

They trained his next team where they trained the next team.

And it went for, you know, eight straight state championships.

You know, that's unheard of.

(Gary) Nobody in their wildest dreams ever thought, you know, we're starting a streak here.

You would get scared when when the game got close, that the streak might end.

So see what was happening.

The Northfork Basketball teams at those times, they were putting West Virginia into the minds of people that never heard of them.

Probably a lot of them still thought.

What part of Virginia is that in?

NO!

Thats West Virginia and Northfork is a huge part of it.

It's to Crenshaw, that's it.

A national record tying seven championships.

They have seven consecutive championships.

After winning the eighth state championship, Jennings Boyd would retire from coaching and finish his career with a record of 370 and 62.

Boyd would pass the torch to coach Henry Winkfield after his retirement.

After college, Joe returned to Northfork and became the assistant coach under Boyd in 1979.

Due to illness, Winkfield had to step away from coaching and in 1983, Joe became the new coach of the Northfork Blue Demons, a task that he did not take lightly.

Well, you know, when I first got to be the head coach in Northfork High School, it was it was honestly, it was kind of scary.

You know, I was nervous.

I was nervous a lot of days, a lot of nights.

I was very, very nervous because of the tradition that Northfork had.

If you played for Northfork High School back in those days, you know, just putting on a uniform was an accomplishment.

You know, Coach Boyd has set a precedent that, you know, it was hard to live up to and you didn't want to be the one to come in and do everything just bottoms out.

I think the thing is that stood out about Mark.

He reminded me a lot of Jennings when he talked to you.

He was soft spoken as well.

I thought man It must be something that I teach in language, class or something at Northfork High School, I don't know.

But soft spoken guy, I always remember they played hard.

I always remember they were still Northfork.

And I always remember that even Beckley, a class triple A school that's won sixteen state titles more than anyone else, they always wanted to beat Northfork, small class Double-A team.

They wanted to beat Northfork because it was Northfork.

You wanted to beat Northfork because they were eight straight state titles.

My goodness, you want to beat the champions.

After a two year absence from the state tournament, Joe led the Blue Demons to win the 84 state championships.

It was sort of kismet because Joe was on the team that won the first title in the legendary streak with his coaching style down and a team that was comprised of young up and coming talent, it would seem like another streak was on the horizon.

Time went along.

The nervousness wore off more and more and more.

And then I started getting into a groove.

And then, then they closed the school down.

The County Board of Education decided to close the school down, spontaneously.

We didn't see it coming.

We knew they were thinking about it because Mt.View was in existence, and we played against Mt.

View for, you know, a few years, you know, and they closed the school down.

The Way Jim Lane, our principal, found out about it, was one of the board members who had voted against it, called him that night and told him that, quote, We closed your high school, tonight.

I thought Nah thats not going to happen.

Theyre not gonna close Northfork town wouldn't stand for it.

It's not going to happen.

And so I didn't think anything about it when I first heard about it.

I can remember coming down the hallway the next morning and I was talking to one of the teachers I spoke to her.

I said good morning, how are you today?

And she looked at me and she said, Oh, it's not a good morning.

And I said, It's not ?

And she said no, you don't know.?

And I said, No, I don't know what's going on?

And then she told me that they had voted the night before to close the school.

The people of Northfork were blindsided by this ruling.

The shock and anger led to a lot of theories as to why this action was taken.

(Gary) It was motivated.

I don't really know if it was political or not, but, you know, it was.

I think, definitely motivated for reasons other than looking out for the kids.

I believe that's a political decision and it came from Welch and it came from jealousy this the way I really believe it was a political decision because Northfork was getting too much attention for a small town like this.

And with all the goodness that was going on.

On January 8th, 1985, the Board of Education cited financial issues and low enrollment numbers for the closing.

It was reported that the board of Ed would save close to 300 to $700000.

In the closing of Northfork and two other schools in the area, the people of North Fork protested the closing of the school and would take legal action to try to save the home of the Blue Demons.

The court case would be brought before Judge Booker Stevens, a circuit court judge representing the Eighth Judicial Circuit.

(Booker Stephens) The citizens of Northfork got together and and hired a lawyer to represent them.

And they filed in my court what's called a petition for a writ of mandamus.

What a writ of mandamus is, is you're asking the court to provide an order to compel someone else to either do something or not do something.

The challenge before the people of Norfolk was to convince the Board of Education to change their minds on the decision.

We put a couple proposals together.

One was to leave Northfork High School open, but make it a one through 12 school, and we proposed that to the Board of Education at their next meeting.

And they weren't having any any of that.

The people of Northfork were having a hard time in the courtroom.

Not only was a scholastic legacy on the line, but the identity of a small community was hanging in the balance of this court case.

It would seem that they need a miracle in order to win.

(Booker Stephens) A twist came in April of 1985.

The legislature was in session and they actually passed a law which became effective April 13th, 1985.

While this closure was pending here in McDowell County.

Before me, the lawyer for the citizens of Northfork made what's called a motion for summary judgment.

I granted, the summary judgment said that the Board of Education of McDowell County had not complied with either or both of those statutes.

I told you they weren't going to close that school because I thought, man, there you go.

They've reaffirmed what you've been saying all along because everyone I'd told before they closed the school, they're not going to close the school.

I promise.

You're not going to close the school they came to see.

They they said I told you they were gonna close the school then when I heard that I said “See I told you!

” And then we found out that ended up being closed.

So while the circuit court made a ruling that seemed to have saved Northfork High School, the McDowell County Board of Education fought on Judge Booker Stevens, believes Northfork was ultimately a casualty of the school consolidation movement of the 1980s.

I think what we have to keep in mind is that there were a number of schools in West Virginia at that time that was beginning to close schools and consolidate.

And I felt that the Supreme Court's position was that if they had affirmed my ruling that would have thrown all those other cases throughout the state of West Virginia into confusion.

And so on June 26, 1986, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's ruling upholding the McDowell County Board of Education's Right to consolidate NorthFork High School with Mt.

View High School.

[RAIN FALLING] The feeling as you went through town, you still pass the same residences, you still pass the same basketball hoop on the tree or on the pole.

You didnt see anyone out there playing basketball.

You felt a sense of defeat that had overcome that entire area.

Because to me and I know I know Northfork had so many other things going, but I also always felt that basketball was what set Northfork apart than any other small town in the state of West Virginia.

In the early 2000s, violent flooding destroyed a majority of the infrastructure in McDowell County, North Fork High School, which was turned into a middle school after its consolidation was permanently closed in 2001.

Time and nature weren't kind to the old building as it sat abandoned for close to 17 years.

In February of 2020, the decision was made to demolish the school.

When you empty you aint worth nothing, it is sad to even think about it being tore down.

Even the shape that it's in right now is still special.

You go by and see them old ass bricks.

You got some classrooms some gyms and teachers and memories and stuff like that.

It's just a sad thing to see the town go down the county go down and then see the school that all that history.

Now when I aint here to tell it and a couple of other friends classmates aren't here to tell these stories Aint gonna be no story.

Aint gonna be no story.

Just wipe you off.

I don't think I was prepared to see this building torn down for 25 years when I would drive through the town.

The school was an old reminder of what used to be.

The halls filled with young people and a gymnasium that was filled to capacity.

The memories and the stories that I had heard felt like they're being taken away.

Now, where a school once stood now lays an empty lot that looks like a scar.

As if the memories were refusing to be forgotten.

You might be wondering, what happened to the trophies from Northfork?

Well,when Northfork High closed the trophies were moved to the local Northfork Sports Museum.

After that building began to fall into disrepair.

They were then moved to City Hall,where they reside to this day.

Years of accomplishments and the namesake of a small town now sit in a tiny bank vault in city hall.

It's bittersweet to tell this story when I would tell people about the Northfork Blue Demons and the story I was trying to tell everyone, which is look at me and say, Huh?

I never heard of them.

And that.

Is sad.

That a team as great as this to come from southern West Virginia isn't really talked about and is forgotten in some ways.

But it's my hope that almost 40 years later that everyone will remember their name.

This has been a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.