All-State Basketball: Shady’s Braden Chapman earns Class AAA captain honors

Prior to Braden Chapman’s arrival at Shady Spring, the boys basketball program was largely an afterthought on a statewide level.

With his high school career now at an end, that’s all changed.

Since his arrival on campus he’s led the program to three state championship games – after it had only been to the state tournament once before – and a title in 2021.

He didn’t slow down this past season, averaging 18.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game for the Tigers.

For his efforts, Chapman has been named captain of the boys Class AAA first-team all-staters by the West Virginia Sports Writer Association, repeating his feat from a year ago.

Chapman becomes the first Class AAA player to earn captain honors in consecutive years since Randy Moss earned co-captain honors in 1994 and solo honors in ’95 and the first to earn them without a co-captain since former Greenbrier East standout Bimbo Coles did so in ’85 and ’86. The first-team selection is the third of Chapman’s career exceeding the previous mark of two set by Chase Conner (2012-13).

“Braden, I think he’s the best player in the state,” Shady head coach Ronnie Olson said. “He’s definitely the best defender and I think he’s proved that all year. He deserves to be the captain. He’s absolutely the best in my opinion.”

Chapman backed up his coach’s claim as the state’s top defender throughout the season, but his performance in the Class AAA title game against spoke for itself. Tasked with guarding Fairmont Senior all-stater Zycheus Dobbs, Chapman excelled, limiting Dobbs to one point and one shot attempt a year after he had his way with the Tigers in the 2022 title game.

He’s joined on the first-team by junior teammate Ammar Maxwell who earned his first all-state nod by averaging 14.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.

Maxwell, largely a complementary player in seasons past, emerged late last season and carried the momentum through this year, becoming the Shady’s No. 2 option on offense. But he also improved as a defensive player.

“He put us on a whole different level,” Olson said. “He’s going to be up for player of the year next year so it’s only fitting that he got that. He definitely deserved it and put up big numbers against the best teams in the state. He worked hard in the offseason and it showed. He went from a spot-up shooter to a triple threat guy. I think one of the biggest things for me is he took pride in playing defense and he was one of our worst defenders last year. He worked and took constructive criticism to become one of our best defenders.”

Joining Chapman and Maxwell on the first team are Dobbs and DeSean Goode (Fairmont Senior), Luke Johnson (Ripley), Evan Parr (East Fairmont), Eli Robertson (Herbert Hoover) and Reece Carden (Scott).

Goode and Dobbs wrote their own chapters in Fairmont’s prestigious basketball history this season, helping the Polar Bears defend their Class AAA crown against Chapman and Maxwell’s Tigers.

Dobbs, a junior, averaged 21.2 points and 5.6 assists per game but the latter came more into play in the title game. Despite being limited to just one shot attempt while saddled with foul trouble, his assist in transition to teammate Connor Gower for a 3 in the fourth quarter of the title game gave Fairmont the lead for good. The first-team selection is Dobbs’ second.

Goode, a 6-foot-8 forward, makes his first appearance on the first-team after earning second-team honors last year. He played more in the post during the state tournament, proving to be a mismatch. The senior averaged 18.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest this season.

Luke Johnson, a 6-foot-11 senior, averaged 22.8 points per game for Ripley this year, helping the Vikings reach the state tournament.

Carden, a senior, earned first-team honors for the second consecutive season. Averaging 21.3 points per game, his efforts helped the Skyhawks reached the semifinals for the second consecutive season.

Robertson, a senior guard, helped Hoover return to the state tournament with an average of 22.7 points per game. It’s Robertson’s first all-state selection after he garnered an honorable mention last year.

Parr rounds out the list of first-teamers, helping the Bees to one of their best seasons in program history with three of their four losses coming to Fairmont Senior. The senior averaged 16.7 points per game, earning all-state honors for the first time.

Braden Chapman’s twin brother Cole, a first-teamer the last two years, was named second-team captain. He’s joined by teammate and fellow senior Cam Manns as well as Malachi Watson (Elkins), Easton Shanholtz (Hampshire), Scotty Browning (Logan), Brayden Thomason (Robert C. Byrd), Harley Sickles (North Marion) and Dane Hatfield (Herbert Hoover).

Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94