Charleston – What an eventful and successful week it was in Charleston! For the first time, four area teams played on Championship Saturday in the state tournament, two of them against each other ensuring one way or another there would be a state champions form the area.
Unfortunately for three of those teams they fell short of hoisting the championship trophy but the future is bright on all fronts.
Forged from heartbreak
Much is going to be made of the Class AAA championship featuring Shady Spring and Fairmont Senior. Due to the nature of how it ended, it’ll likely go down as one of the best title games ever played in Charleston. The loss ended Shady’s bid to become the first area team to win back-to-back titles since Bluefield did so in 2013 and 2014.
But there was much to be impressed with.
What made the Tigers so exciting was the possibility they could establish an immediate dynasty due to the amount of talent they have and will retain. When they won the title last season they were ahead of schedule with the core group consisting entirely of sophomores and freshmen. The hopes of bringing home another title are put on hold for another year but the tournament run itself was impressive.
Starting with the fourth quarter, Shady fans watched sophomore Ammar Maxwell grow up before their eyes. He scored 12 of his 16 points in the final frame, helping Shady rally from an eight-point deficit. Maxwell’s number has been called all season after starting point guard Jack Williams was lost to injury just four games in. Maxwell came into his own as a scorer, and at times looked uncomfortable, but once shots started falling on Saturday night he settled in and started driving the lane and finishing. Without his growth the Tigers don’t have a chance to win it in the waning seconds, which brings me to my next point.
Watching Braden Chapman will his team to the finish line reminded me of Wyoming East grad Skylar Davidson’s 2021 state tournament showing. Without Chapman the Tigers struggle to make it past Wheeling Central in the semifinals. He scored the Tigers’ first 11 points in that win as they shot 3 of 15 from the field in the opening quarter.
He was again the steadying force against Fairmont when the Tigers’ hopes were fading. He wanted the ball and knew exactly what to do with it, hitting the shot that gave Shady a lead with under 11 seconds left. Unfortunately for the Tigers it came down to who had the ball last and that was Fairmont.
If anything I believe this week’s showing was a sampling of what to expect from Chapman next year. The drive and confidence he showed in the biggest moments are indicative of not only a special athlete, but a generational one. He was the one that proudly proclaimed the Tigers would be back after winning the title last year and held up his end of the bargain. He was tied for second in the state player of the year voting and will enter next year as a favorite to win it along with James Monroe standout Eli Allen.
Speaking of next year, Shady head coach Ronnie Olson is already looking ahead as he tries to digest what is undoubtedly the most difficult loss of his career. I received this text from him Saturday during my drive back from Charleston.
To be clear, to think Olson let his community down would be absurd. When you reach a level of success, it’s often easy to forget how meaningful the seemingly smaller details are. Just 10 months ago an older gentlemen brought Olson a state tournament ticket from 1994, the last time the Tigers made the state tournament before Olson guided them to the promised land last season. Ten months ago a regional title was a big deal. That standard is high but stories are told in communities all over the state about teams that made it to the state title game.
James Monroe, the Class A winner, had one state tournament appearance since the school opened in 1994. Making it alone was celebrated. James Monroe head coach Matt Sauvage continuously made a great point all season. His message to his team was to enjoy the journey because the destination doesn’t mean much if you can’t enjoy the road you took to get there.
Naturally it’s easier for me to say this as a neutral party. The heartbreak and rollercoaster of emotions the Shady fanbase, team and coaches feel right now would be hard to contextualize but sometimes a reminder of just how far you’ve come is appropriate.
David Retton, the winning coach in that contest used a quote from Morgantown Coach Dave Tallman following the game.
“I’m pretty sure Coach Tallman said it last year when they got beat by (George Washington),” Retton said. “He said ‘There’s one play that..’ I don’t remember the exact wording but he said ‘One play either makes you miserable or happy.'”
Tallman, was in a similar situation as Olson 10 months ago. After GW hit a go-ahead shot in the Class AAAA title game with over 10 seconds left, Morgantown’s elected to forgo a timeout and the last-second shot attempt at the buzzer fell short. Poca was in the same situation, falling in the Class AA title game last season.
The good news? Both Poca and Morgantown found redemption Saturday, atoning for title game losses with wins. Shady is already comprised of a fiery bunch that ran with the motto “Chip Mentality” all season. I imagine that will be amplified especially since Olson’s exact words were “We’re going to be bigger and I guaran-damn-tee it we’re going to be back here on Saturday next year.”
December can’t come soon enough for this bunch.
30 years later
This James Monroe team heard ad nauseam about the Peterstown team that was favored to win the Class A title in 1992, but was upset by Herndon in the semifinals. Sauvage was on that team as was Rodney Allen, the father of James Monroe all-stater Eli Allen.
The Pirates lost to eventual Class AAA champion Beckley in overtime that year and beat Class AA champion Greenbrier West that season. Saturday served as an opportunity to put those bad memories to bed.
Sauvage expressed he didn’t want to live out his dreams through his son Shad, also an all-stater on this title team, as well as the rest of the boys but it was a sweet moment that many in the James Monroe community, the school Peterstown consolidated into along with Union, relished in. Saturday’s championship, coincidentally enough, came 30 years after that Peterstown team fell short.
“I’ll tell you, I have several teammates here,” Rodney Allen said. “Travis Jackson and I were talking that it actually alleviates a lot of that pain from 30 years ago. You walk in that coliseum and it was something we felt was ours for the taking. We didn’t complete the mission so when these James Monroe kids went out there, especially my boys (Allen and Josh Burks), they kind of avenged that loss and now I’ve got great memories in there so it take a lot of that away.”
“My dad talks about that ALL the time,” Eli Allen said. “I mean, all the time he just says how his mentality is don’t ever go out there thinking you’re going to win the game because they should’ve won. They would’ve beat that team 99 times out of 100.”
Coach Sauvage had a friendly response to Eli Allen’s statement about Rodney’s insistence on bringing up that team.
“Now we can tell him to stop talking about it because we accomplished it,” Sauvage laughed.
Brighter Futures
The other two teams that fell on Saturday were Bluefield and Greater Beckley, both of which have bright futures ahead of them. Provided the four Greater Beckley kids that were ruled ineligible stay at the school, three will be eligible to return next season along with current starters Kendrick Wilson, Michael Judy and John Rose.
Even if the Crusaders move in to Class AA when the new reclassifications come out in April, they’ll still have shot to win a title with Poca graduating most of its team.
No matter where you stand on the kids currently playing for Greater Beckley, the stones cast in their direction were beyond excessive. It feels that so often, observers forget that you’re talking about kids. Not professional athletes but kids. The harsh feelings often come from private schools drawing from larger talent pools than more rural areas but it didn’t make a difference for James Monroe, a team that beat three private schools by nearly 30 points on average in state tournament play, as pointed out by my good friend Ryan Pritt of there Gazette-Mail.
I watched as this group of James Monroe seniors lost by nearly 40 points to a good, not great Shady Spring team as freshmen.
They simply worked hard, improved and beat Greater Beckley when both teams were at full strength.
On the note of James Monroe and Greater Beckley, Sauvage revealed that the team is officially 28-0 after winning the state championship. There was question as to whether or not that would hold up as Greater Beckley beat the Mavericks early in the season with ineligible players.
Sauvage did throw in the caveat that there is an asterisk beside the record because they lost that game.
Last but not least, Bluefield.
The Beavers’ loaded schedule served them well this season as they played in tight games and learned from those situations, making a run to the Class AA title game. They beat a team that was 2-1 against them this season, held off a good St. Marys team and fell to one of the best in-state prospects in a decade in Isaac McKneely.
Along the way they discovered a few players that will help them next season as they’ll likely enter as the odds on favorite to win Class AA should the classification alignments remain similar to what they are now.
Kam’Ron Gore made a name for himself at the state tournament as the backup point guard that will likely slide right into the void left by Ja’eon Flack. R.J. Hairston will be a junior and emerged as a legitimate double-double threat. Caleb Fuller will be a senior and led the team in scoring with 19 points per game. Factor in freshman guard Jamel Floyd and sophomore guard Sencere Fields and the Beavers have a young dynamic group that should make the program a regular on championship Saturday for the next two years.
Region 3 Renaissance
As noted earlier, this was the first time four area teams compete for state championship. Three of those teams – Shady Spring, James Monroe and Bluefield – all played in the same section just two years ago. Prior to Shady Spring snapping the drought last season, no area team had advanced past the quarterfinal round since 2015.
No area team had played for a title since Bluefield won in 2014. That was a long drought for an area that prides itself on its hardwood exploits. After this past week, it look like Region 3 is in a renaissance period much like it was in the 90s. Beckley, Oceana, Bluefield and Mullens were amongst the regular state championship contenders in that era and, combining to win eight state championships that decade.
We’re two years into this decade with two area teams winning titles. With eight more years to go and a ton of talent coming back, the future looks bright.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
