Gallery by Heather Belcher
After a meteoric rise to the top of the Class AAA basketball world three years ago, Shady Spring fell to Fairmont Senior in a pair of close title games the last two years.
Gone is a senior class that played in three state championships, claiming the 2021 title.
But the cupboard isn’t bare.
The Tigers return a pair of players in Ammar Maxwell and Jack Williams, both of which have started and played a lot over the last three years. Maxwell in particular is a retuning all-stater and Evans Award (awarded annually to the top boys basketball player in the state) candidate. As such head coach Ronnie Olson is expecting those two to lead the charge this season.
“You look across the state and you look at a lot of teams that have lost a bunch of seniors and it’s tough to replace,” Olson said. “But, you know, the only way you do that is by committee and sustain it. We feel like we have two college guards in our back court and that kind of helps. Ammar is, to me, the best player in the state and Jackie will be and that kind of helps ease the pain little bit of losing a generational team. So that’s where we start, with Jackie and Ammar. It’s Ammar’s team and he’s going to get what he wants and we’re gonna go through him and Jackie’s an outstanding player and we’re gonna start there and then we have tons of other guys that can fill it up and defend. Obviously you can’t replace the kids we lost but you have other ways to keep the thing rolling. It doesn’t change our expectations. You can ask me every day and it doesn’t matter – we want to play Saturday for that state championship. I’ve had this conversation with you two years in a row – it’s an ending that we want to forget. But maybe we can play spoiler this year because we know we’re not gonna be the favorite or we’re gonna be the underdog.”
Flanking Maxwell and Williams will be a mostly young bunch of players. Gavin Davis saw meaningful minutes in the rotation the last two seasons and he’ll be relied on to deliver in a bigger role this year. Joining that trio will be Khi Olson, Jalon Bailey, Nate Richmond, Josiah McKoy, Brody Radford and Braedy Johnston.
“You’ve got to start with Gavin Davis,” Olson said. “You know, he’s one of those guys that he’s undersized but he’s gonna rebound with most people he goes against because of his effort, because of his position and just because of his want to so he’s one that we’re looking to be an enforcer inside and it’s not always about the size. I always say when you’re lacking in one area you’ve got to make up in another and beat guys with effort. So Gavin Davis, you know, he’s gonna be huge for us. Khi, Jalon and Brody are going to be big players for us. Braedy Johnston too. I think it’s gonna help us in a rotation.
You’ve got Jalon, he’s another one that’s a bulldog that will guard you full court. Brody will guard you full court and all those guys have high basketball IQs. Khi’s an elite shooter and you can argue there’s not a better shooter in the state. He’s been a little slowed by an injury in the preseason. All these guys have played together so they know where the others are at. And, you know, all those guys are gonna have to give us big nights here and there. Teams are gonna be keying on Jackie and Ammar. Some nights it might be Jalon and Brody or, you know, Brady or, or those guys or Gavin who have to give us 15, heck, maybe even 20 points If they’re really keying on them. So I like the flexibility of having all those guys that can play different positions and have a high basketball IQ.”
With a different group Olson warns there will be some changes at a schematic level even on defense. But don’t mistake schematics for a change in intensity.
“I’m not gonna lie, we are going to change dramatically,” Olson said. “We will even possibly change defensively. I think we’ll go through the flow of the season to see what we could do. We’re gonna pressure but that’s not going to be exactly who we are. We’re going to change on a game by game basis because this team is not going to physically impose their will on teams like last year but they are going to grind people out. Schematically we’re gonna be a little different. We might play some zone this year as well. So we’ll just see.
“Offensively we’re going to be a more spread out team. We had a lot of sets we went through last year with iso. We didn’t do a ton of five out and we didn’t do a ton of driving gaps but I think you’re gonna see that a lot from these guys because they can all put it on the floor and knock it down and have high basketball IQs. We want to spread the wealth around a little bit this year and try to make it a threat for everybody so we’re not easy to defend. That’s kind of what we’re looking at schematically. And obviously things can change, but that’s kind of what we’re looking for. And this new season, it’s gonna be a little rough at the beginning and hopefully people are patient with us because there’s a lot of new stuff. These guys are getting used to still kind of playing together with the new system.”
