Gallery by Ashley Honaker
Charleston – The strive for five continues.
No. 2 Charleston Catholic capped a second-half comeback with a stellar defensive stand in the final minute to secure a 42-39 victory and deny No. 1 Bluefield the program’s fifth state championship in the Class AA state championship game Saturday night in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
Relying on their foundational principles of defense and rebounding, the Irish held the Beavers, who had the possession for majority of the final minute of the game, off the scoreboard denying them any clean looks at a winning shot.
Leading 40-39, Catholic forced a jump ball with 26 seconds to go and trapped the Beavers with 6.9 remaining, forcing them into a timeout.
A strip of Bluefield all-stater R.J. Hairston with two seconds to go all but cemented the victory.
“That is what we kind of hang our hat on is defensive rebounding,” Catholic head coach Hunter Moles said. “So to be able to win it like that, it means the world to us. A lot of people probably want a game-winning shot. We kind of want to finish with a stop and I was having some deja vu from the Williamstown game last year and got a stop, Max (Wilcox) knocks two free throws down, grabs the ball at the very end it was a lot of deja vu so just super proud of the guys because Bluefield is a really talented team so they did did a really good job in the second half.”
Bluefield head coach Buster Large saw the final possession differently.
“We had a great play set up. A great play set up. Did you see what happened to R.J. when he drove to the bucket?” Large said, swiping his arm, insinuating a foul.
While no call came, the Irish did knock down their final free throws on the other end, sticking true to their theme across the second half.
Trailing 23-15 at the intermission, the Irish got to the bucket and capitalized. When they weren’t hitting from the field they were hitting from the line, connecting on 13 of their 15 free throw attempts, all of which came in the second half.
It helped get Catholic all-stater Jayallen Turner going after he was held to just three shot attempts in the opening half and one through the opening 13 minutes.
“Jay be more aggressive, don’t turn the ball over,” Moles said, recalling his halftime message to the team. “Be tougher, slip the ball screens. Gio (Cinco), Max (Wilcox), play make after you slip. Jay, you only got three shots at halftime. You got to get more shots. Shots over turnovers. Gotta get shots over turnovers. Credit to the guys for making those adjustments because they did a really, really good job at adjustments. I also have to give credit to our assistant coaches who really, I felt like played a big role in those adjustments.”
The Beavers appeared primed to pull away early.
Three-pointers from Sencere Fields and Glen Keene staked them to an early 6-0 lead. A steal and a layup from Kam’Ron Gore pushed it to 8-0 with the lead ballooning to as many as 10 points.
But as was the theme throughout championship games Saturday, the Irish never wilted.
After trimming the deficit to eight at the break their biggest run came early in the third when they scored the first five points and drew to within one with 3:42 to go in the third. The Beavers meanwhile hit a dry spell, attempting just three shots over the first four minutes of the half.
Keene eventually got loose, nailing a 3 to reestablish a multi-possession advantage for the Beavers and did the same early in the fourth to put them up 35-30. A 6-0 Catholic run squashed that momentum, giving the Irish their first lead of the contest, marking the first of three lead changes in the frame.
Bluefield’s final points came with 3:22 to play on an E.J. Washington 3, giving it a 39-38 advantage. But unable to generate turnovers the offense struggled. After scoring 10 points off turnovers in the first half the Beavers didn’t score a single point off the four they managed to force in the second half.
They also struggled with turnovers themselves, committing nine in the final 16 minutes.
“We just needed to play a little tougher with the ball and sometimes you have to get used to how the game is being called too so we figured that out,” Moles said. “But that was a big thing at halftime – play a little tougher with the ball. We practice very hard and physical so I know we had it in us, just were we gonna go out and do it.
“The guys did that and you don’t get to run a lot of sets against a Bluefield because they just do such a good job of blitzing screens jumping handoffs, and they could switch so much. They’re quick, they’re fast, they’re physical without fouling a lot of times and they also take charges so they’re a really good team. I just wanted to try to get a really good shot. I mean one time we ran our stuff very well we got to one open 3 and we missed it but we always talked about all year, ‘Hey, if we get good looks, don’t get down on yourself. Don’t take that to the defensive end.’ So the guys did a really good job.”
Żaden Ranson led Catholic with 13 points, 11 of which came in the second half. Turner finished with 12 while Hairston led the Beavers with 11. He was the only Bluefield player in double figures.
“You know, you come up here and play for a state championship and get beat by about three points,” Large said. “You know it’s very, very tough to swallow especially when you look on the stat sheet and he shot 15 free throws, and we shot two (six) that’s all I can say. But anybody that’s got basketball knowledge, knows where I’m coming from. And if they can live with that kind of statistic, so be it. But I’m very proud of these young men. Very proud. They exemplified sportsmanship. Great representation of Bluefield High School and they’ve had a great (season). I mean, 21-6, I mean, how many teams can have that kind of record?”
***
The all-tournament team consisted of Sencere Fields (Bluefield), E.J. Washington (Bluefield), Zion Blevins (Chapmanville), Eli Sancomb (Wheeling Central), Beau Bennett (Ravenswood), Zaden Ranson (Charleston Catholic), R.J. Hairston (Bluefield), Kam’Ron Gore (Bluefield) and Jayallen Turner (Charleston Catholic), who claimed Tournament MVP honors.
