Gallery by Tina Laney
Beckley – The price was worth the admission for a matchup of teams with championship pedigrees and title aspirations.
Class AAA No. 1 Shady Spring overcame and 11-point first-half deficit to defeat Class A No. 1 James Monroe 55-52 Friday night in the New River CTC Invitational at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
Playing for the first time since both teams were sectional foes in 2020, the 2021 state champion Tigers got all they could handle from the reigning Class A state champions Mavericks.
“We don’t look at it as single-A or double-A with all these realignments,” Shady Spring head coach Ronnie Olson said. “The teams are good and it doesn’t matter the classifications. They came out ready to play and I thought we were ready to play. They just out-executed us and dictated the tempo early. That’s my fault because I thought we should’ve probably attempted a little more pressure early and we let them get comfortable and when you let teams get comfortable you get down but 15 points in a half is unacceptable.”
In a battle of teams with philosophies rooted in defense the Mavericks won the first bout.
After Shady took a 7-5 lead on a pair of Ammar Maxwell free throws Juan Hopkins knotted the game and Eli Allen gave the Mavericks a lead that held until the fourth with a layup, keying what became a 10-0 James Monroe run to close the first quarter.
Allen’s step-back 3 early in the second gave the hosts on the scoreboard their first double-digit advantage at 20-9. The matchup between Allen – last year’s Class A all-state captain – and Shady Braden Chapman – last year’s Class AAA captain – didn’t disappoint with Allen winning the early bout. He finished 5 of 8 shooting in the first half, producing 13 points for the Mavericks who led 25-15 at the intermission.
“Shady’s one of the better teams in the state and they’re going to continue to be that way,” James Monroe head coach Matt Sauvage said. “They’re tough. To start off that way, it all comes back to our defense and I thought our defense played great tonight. In the first half, holding Shady to 15 points, I’ll take that all year. I thought that’s what fueled us.”
The second half belonged to Chapman who poured in 17 of his 21 points after the break. Oddly the Shady guard who hangs his hat on defense was freed to excel on the offensive end due to a defensive adjustment implemented out of necessity.
Both Chapman and Allen pciked up their fourth fouls in the third quarter which forced Olson to put the smaller Cole Chapman on Allen to avoid Braden fouling out.
“He did a helluva job on Eli,” Olson said of Cole. “Braden was in (foul) trouble so we kind of switched on him. Cole’s a different type of defender. Braden’s going to body and keep you in front of him. You’re not getting by Cole a lot. He’s cerebral and when we got close we didn’t press up as much. Eli, as you can see, didn’t get what he wanted when Cole went on him. I thought the foul discrepancy was a big part of us getting down in the second half but you talk about getting down 10, getting down nine in a tough environment, that’s a resilient bunch.”
After Olson was hit with a technical with a minute left in the third quarter with his team trailing 38-29 and the foul discrepancy sitting at 8-0 in the quarter for the Mavericks, the comeback was on.
A trio of free throws towards the end of the frame cut the deficit to four after three. Maxwell opened the fourth with a layup to cut it to four but a free throw from Cooper Ridgeway and layup from Collin Fox extended it to five.
Braden Chapman took over from there.
The senior nailed a straightaway 3 off a screen for the first of his nine fourth-quarter points and tied the game with a layup afterwards. Fox momentarily restored order for James Monroe and Chapman again trimmed the deficit with a free throw but his play as passer put the Tigers over the top.
Trailing 47-46, Braden drove the lane and kicked to his brother Cole in the right corner for an open 3. Cole nailed it through contact, drew the foul and converted the three-point play to give the Tigers a 50-47 advantage, their first since they lead 7-5.
The teams traded buckets the rest of the way until Shady built a 55-49 lead with under a minute left. Allen responded with an improbable 3 and after a missed free throw from Shady the Mavs had an opportunity to tie with under six seconds left.
Allen drove the lane, kicked to an open shooter but the shot was just off.
“Coach (Cory) Miller came up with that play,” Sauvage said. “He said ‘Coach, let’s run it’ and I said ‘Let’s do it!’ We brought Layton (Dowdy) in off the bench cold as ice and that was close. He almost took us to overtime. It was a beautiful play and we got what we wanted, we just didn’t knock it down.”
The loss marks the Mavericks’ first losing streak since February of 2020, though both have come against quality teams by one possession each in Class AAAA Beckley and the top team in AAA in Shady Spring.
“Honestly I think it speaks for itself,” Sauvage said. “I really don’t need to say a whole lot about it. We still don’t know where we’re at. Our offense still has a long ways to go. Our defense is where it needs to be but offensively we’re not close yet. I think when we get the offense where we need it to be it’s going to be rolling a whole lot better but you know I can’t complain at all. I’m so proud of these guys and they battled with everything they had.”
Shady improves to 4-3 and will face the No. 1 team in Class AA on Saturday when it travels to Bluefield.
“We’ve never won there – the Brushfork Armory – since I’ve been the coach,” Olson said. “This is a big game for us. You’re talking about No. 1 and No. 1 in back-to-back days. I told them to go home and rest – no talking to their girlfriends just go home and just relax and take care of their bodies tonight because it’s a 4 o’clock tip. I know (Bluefield’s) going to be ready. It’s the first time on their floor and a great cause for Lil Tony (Webster) and that’s why we decided to play in it but it’s a quick turnaround.”
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
