Isaac McKneely was named the 2022 Player of the Year by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
Saturday at the annual Scott Brown Classic played at Shady Spring High School, the Poca standout gave a glimpse as to why.
In a tight game down the stretch, McKneely scored 11 of his 19 points in crunch time including the decisive 3-pointer to give the C. Adam Toney AA-A all-stars a thrilling 123-122 win over the Mid-State Automotive AAAA-AAA all-stars.
“I have never been the guy to come out in these things and just shoot every time, but I wanted to win,” McKneely said. “The game got kind of close and I got a few buckets in. Caleb (Blevins) hit some big shots and we all played really well. I was glad to come out with the win.”
Playing two 20-minute halves, the game was back and forth early with four lead changes in the first three minutes.
A bucket from Woodrow Wilson standout Maddex McMillen gave Mid-State a lead that it held until halftime at 61-52.
Morgantown’s Brooks Gage and Parkersburg South’s Ashton Mooney had the hot hands in the opening half scoring 12 points apiece, while Logan big man Jackson Tackett added 11 to lead the big school all-stars.
“The only halftime speech I had was, let’s hit some shots,” James Monroe and C. Adam Toney head coach Matt Sauvage said, laughing. “Caleb caught fire for a minute and Isaac was pulling up. When you have talent like that, you don’t need to coach too much.”
A triple from Morgantown’s Alec Poland to open the second half, pushed the lead to 12 before a 10-2 run by C. Adam Toney closed the gap to four points.
Still trailing by four points with just over 15 minutes to play the small school all-stars started to find the range from deep.
After Man sharpshooter Caleb Blevins drilled a three, Liberty all-stater Adam Drennen gave C. Adam Toney its first lead since 5-3 early in the contest.
“Yesterday in practice we talked about defense a little bit. Each team plays man-to-man defense a little different so we wanted to all be on the same page about that,” Sauvage said. “Offensively we talked about the pick and roll, but other than that we just spread the court and played. With this type of talent, if you have to do something more than that, you’re probably coaching wrong.”
Following another stretch of back-and-forth scoring on both ends, Mid-State pulled out to a 99-93 lead thanks mostly to a pair of buckets from Mooney.
With seven minutes to play and the momentum going the wrong way for his team, Greater Beckley Christian standout Kaden Smallwood made two straight baskets to right the ship.
“I am a playmaker. They say big time players make big time plays and I stand by that. I had to make something happen,” Smallwood said.
Wyoming East’s Tanner Whitten then tied the game with a put back at the five minute mark.
As the clock ticked under four minutes, McNeely hit back-to-back 3s for a five-point lead, but Mid-State battle back to tie the game at 120 with 58 seconds to play.
A pull-up triple from McNeely for his final points of the night with 47 seconds proved to be the eventual game-winner.
McNeely was named Most Valuable Player and also won the dunk contest prior to the game while Poland won the 3-point shootout.
“I knew this was going to be a great experience, but I had a lot more fun than I even thought I would,” McNeely said. “Getting to play with the best players in the state of West Virginia and have a dunk contest in a really cool environment, I’m just glad I got picked to play in it.”
Blevins led the small school all-stars with 22 points including seven 3-pointers. Smallwood scored 15, while James Monroe’s Shad Sauvage added 12.
“It was an experience that I will always remember and a lot of memories were made tonight,” Smallwood said. “Playing against the best players in the state is a great feeling. It is great that we came out with the win, but we made sure to have fun with it.”
Jackson Toney from Poca scored 11 and Man’s Jeremiah Harless had 10 points and 15 rebounds. Whitten scored 12 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had seven assists.
“Nothing was said until the last minute when we were up. You could hear them saying in the huddle, let’s take care of business for the small schools,” Sauvage said.
Mooney led all scorers with 23 points, while Tackett scored 22 and had 11 rebounds.
Gage had 19, Poland scored 17 and Cabell Midland standout Chandler Schmidt added 13.
“It is an honor to come down and coach the Scott Brown Classic. It is a great event and we are happy to be here,” Morgantown and Mid-State Automotive head coach Dave Tallman said. “It was very competitive and a one-point game. I wish we would have made the shot at the end, but it was a great battle. They caught fire and killed us on the glass.”
