Gaffney's Dershawn Dawkins goes up for a shot against Lexington on Friday to help his team win its fourth state title in eight years, a feat unmatched in the 40-year history of Class 4A. Photo by CODY SOSSAMON Gaffney coach Mark Huff has raised the bar when it comes to sustained excellence in high school basketball in the state.

With his fourth state championship in hand, Huff and the Gaffney Indians have tied Lower Richland for the most state titles won by a Class 4A school since the classification’s inception in 1968-’69. However, Gaffney’s run of four state titles in eight years is unmatched in the history of Class 4A.

Lower Richland’s string of four titles spanned 16 years from the Diamonds’ first title in 1982-’83 until its fourth and last crown in 1998-99.

Three other schools have won three titles. Irmo won titles in 1990-91 and went back-to-back in 1993-’94 and 1994-’95.

Sumter collected three state titles in a six year span, beginning in 1979-’80. Eau Claire and legendary coach George Gymph captured three state titles in 1972- ’73, 1988-’89 and 1989-’90 before winning three more as a Class 3A school in the early to mid-1990s.

With a strong returning nucleus and talented rising juniors and sophomores on the way, it’s likely the Indians’ run of state titles is far from over.

The only program in any class that can match Gaffney’s recent excellence is Calhoun County which has won seven state champions since 1996. Under coach Zam Fredrick, Calhoun County captured three Class AA titles and,in 2005-’06, began a streak of four straight Class A titles that was snapped this year.