Welcome back to The Deep Post, a weekly column sifting through the rumblings of the week past and ahead.
After a week off we’re back for the first helping off the new year.
Tip Off
There are too many tournaments/shootouts and we really need to set some parameters.
Let’s start with the parameters.
In years past Dec. 23-26 was off limits and we took that time to reset for Christmas. This year there were two tournaments or shootouts locally that started on Dec. 26 – Greenbrier East’s Holiday Tournament and the Winter Classic in Summersville.
Both were good events with good teams but let’s give Christmas some time to breathe.
Now, I’d love to see a restructure to the way organizations and schools plan these shootouts, mostly the aforementioned Winter Classic. It’s the new kid on the block and ran into the Little General Battle for the Armory that fielded marquee matchups that included Wyoming East, James Monroe, Shady Spring, Beckley, Oak Hill and Charleston Catholic.
That’s what we call real hoops (more on that at the end) and the games mostly delivered.
That’s an established tournament and has been for ages. The name has changed but dating back to Beckley’s dominance in the ’90s where the Flying Eagles faced teams like Logan and the Jason Williams-Randy Moss Dupont squad, that tournament has always been a staple between Christmas and New Years.
The New River CTC Invitational has claimed the first week of January and has become the top invitational or shootout event in the state. It takes the best elements of the now defunct Big Atlantic Classic and maximizes them.
James Monroe (’22 and ’23), Shady Spring (’21-23), Man (’21), Greater Beckley (’22), Wyoming East (’22-23), Cabell Midland (’21), Huntington (’21-22) and Morgantown (’21) have all played in the invitational in years they also played for state championships. That’s what people want to see especially if you can get them in matchups with local teams (Morgantown-Beckley, Shady-James Monroe, Morgantown-Shady).
The middle school slate this year captured lightning in a bottle with a talented bunch that will trickle up to the high school level and those were the most electric games of the last week.
I think those two tournaments have solidified their spots.
With that said I believe the Winter Classic could benefit and become a power if it moves to a different slot.
My idea? Move it to the second full week of December and make it a tipoff classic.
The folks running it did a good job grabbing ranked teams on the girls side such as James Monroe, Greenbrier West, Wyoming East and Mingo Central. I believe at least two of those (James Monroe and Wyoming East) will be playing in semifinal games this year. That’s a good haul.
But as a sports writer I’m always assessing teams at different points of the season, usually the start of each month. To me, a tipoff Winter Classic makes the most sense. You’re not competing with any other local tournaments and it gives you a brand. If you’re able to attract that caliber of competition it helps a lot.
Moving to February puts you in competition with the Par-Mar shootout at West Virginia St. and the Battle for the Springhouse, another pair of entrenched events that have their own allures.
My suggestion – move the Winter Classic to the second week of December off the heels of football season and thrive.
Shady rolls onÂ
The landscape of Class AAA leaves much to be desired. Unlike double-A there doesn’t appear to be a plethora of teams realistically competing for a title.
This sets up nicely for Shady Spring, which doesn’t appear to have dropped off much despite graduating four starters.
It all starts with Ammar Maxwell, an all-stater and the lone returning starter but Jack Williams has been the surprise in my eyes. The talent has always been there and Williams, a junior, actually started over Maxwell as a freshman  But Williams tore his ACL early that season and looked like a shell of himself last year. The knee injury clearly bothered him all of last season.
Not this year.
Williams looks like the player everyone expected he’d become. He’s confident, quick and plays without hesitation. Shady isn’t a very big team so his size helps them as well especially at the guard position.
Slotting in alongside him have been juniors Khi Olson and Jalon Bailey and both have helped Shady spread the floor and sharpshooters that can also handle the ball. Gavin Davis is the bruiser who hustles and cleans up and in return I’m almost positive he and head coach Ronnie Olson have a deal that allows him to take two open 3-point shots a game if he holds up his end.
Everyone is eagerly awaiting Shady’s matchup with Fairmont Senior, the team that beat the Tigers in the last two state championship games, next week.
That game is at Fairmont and while last season’s regular season meeting (a 20-point Shady win) between the two shows us how little it really matters, this year’s meeting is important for this Shady team. Fairmont brings back several key players from those title teams while this Shady bunch will measure where it stands.
The Baby BirdsÂ
One of the more intriguing teams to follow is Beckley, or as I call them the Baby Birds.
At least three of their regular starters are sophomores and they’re trying to find their way without senior Elijah Redfern who will likely be out the next 2-3 weeks with a hand injury.
For all intents and purposes they are tasked with pulling the New York Yankees of West Virginia basketball out a stretch of despair that the program has never experienced. The five wins two years ago were the fewest in program history in a season in which they played at least 10 games.
So far it’s been mixed bag this season, but the positives are there.
After losing Redfern the Baby Birds competed with the two-time defending state champion Morgantown, won a thriller against Oak Hill, competed with Shady, lost a two-point game at South Charleston and fell in overtime against Musselman. They’re a coin flip away from being a 5-2 team right now, but learning how to consistently win and close out those close games is part of growing up.
The expectation for Beckley is always state championship or bust. The reality is it’s been 16 years since the Flying Eagles won a title and 11 since they played for one.
Most of their starters weren’t alive to see their last title and if they were they were a few months old. It’s hard to accept but I believe you have to meet the program where it’s at – in a rebuilding phase with a bright future. The last two years have ended in first-round sectional losses. For me, the bar should be a state tournament berth this year in a tough region.
The road doesn’t get any easier this week with Princeton and George Washington on the slate but learning how to win and compete with this younger group can lay a foundation to spring off of when Redfern comes back.
Another RideÂ
I didn’t believe the James Monroe boys would find themselves in the discussion of defending their titles after graduating three first-team all-staters.
Now I’m buying into them progressing towards another Saturday run in Charleston.
The transfer of Ryan Cole has helped a lot, but the guys who played behind Eli Allen and Co. the last two years have turned out to be really good basketball players. Brady Baker, Ryan Mann, Cooper Ridgeway and Layton Dowdy look like good basketball players and not just kids playing basketball during the offseason.
They all play well together and seem to have a chemistry you rarely see from teams replacing numerous starters. Now it’s worth noting Dowdy, Baker and Ridgeway all saw meaningful minutes last year but it’s largely their show this year.
And they’ve been tested early.
They lost to Wyoming East but already boast impressive wins over Webster County and Class AAAA Princeton. Their region is competitive but I’ve seen enough to believe the title window is still open.
Real Hoops
Here are my picks for the top games of the upcoming week, taking into account the weight, significance and expected competitiveness.
Tuesday, Jan. 9
James Monroe at Greater Beckley (Boys) – A matchup between two teams with state tournament hopes. Both teams will likely be ranked in the Top 7 of the AP Poll.
Princeton at Bluefield (Boys) – Princeton dominated this series last year. The Beavers have title hopes and the Mercer County rivalry aspect helps.
Thursday, Jan. 11
Summers County at Wyoming East (Girls) – A rematch of last year’s Class AA state championship game. It’s the first of two tough games for Summers next week.
Princeton at Beckley (Boys) – These two teams have played in the sectional tournament the last two years. Those games were decided by a combined three points and both won by Princeton. Depending on which Princeton team shows up this could be another classic.
Saturday, Jan. 13Â
Westside at Wyoming East (Boys) – I’ll say it, the rivalry has lost some of its shine. I believe I counted it up and at one point from 2017-19 the two teams played 11 times. That takes away from the luster but Saturday’s installment has a chance to be a classic. I really like what I’ve seen from both teams so far this year and I believe they’re pretty close in talent level. My only qualm – why are we playing a Saturday game at 7:30? Knock that bad boy out at 1:30 so we can go on about our day.
George Washington at Beckley (Boys) – The only thing worse than a 7:30 Saturday tip is a 4 p.m. one. It eliminates the middle of the day (I feel the same way about NFL games too). But GW and Beckley games get weird regardless of how good the teams are. For example Beckley finished 10-12 in 2021. One of those wins? A Saturday afternoon victory over eventual state champion GW.
Mingo Central at Summers County (Girls) – A rematch of the Class AA Region 3 co-final, Summers won that game in Hinton on its way to a state runner-up finish. Mingo took the first matchup 50-45 on Dec. 9 on Miner Mountain.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94