Gallery by Tina Laney
Coal City – After over a decade at Westside, Shawn Jenkins is getting a fresh start at Independence, hoping to rebuild a program that hasn’t been to the state tournament since 2003.
Facing a Shady Spring team that’s climbed to the top of the mountain with a state championship run in 2021 and a runner-up finish last season, he saw how the big the gap is between where his team is and wants to be.
Hosting the Class AAA No. 2 Tigers Thursday, Independence fell into a 12-0 hole and never recovered, falling 88-25.
Facing a loaded Shady squad, the Patriots committed 19 first-half turnovers against pressure looks, mustering 17 shot attempts to the Tigers’ 36.
“I told some of the younger kids ‘You see that? That’s where you got to want to be,'” Jenkins said. “To get there it takes you living in the gym, staying in the weight room, it takes you playing basketball and it takes you working hard and it just can’t be a seasonal thing. It’s got to be a yearly thing. It’s what they do. They stay in the gym and they put up shots. They don’t just – let’s play 2-on-2 – they go in and work on their game and put up the shots they’re going to take in the game. And they’re dedicated. They’re dedicated.
“To watch that team, I was watching the Chapman boys (Braden and Cole) and when they first started they were a little small and they’re grown men right now out there amongst boys. They’ve just got a fabulous basketball team.”
Shot selection was key for the Tigers. While the game got out of hand early it didn’t come by way of hoisting shots. The visitors moved the ball around, finding open shooters with Cam Manns being an early beneficiary.
The senior forward opened the scoring with a quick trey and later added a dunk after a pair of Braden Chapman free throws. Chapman added a layup before his brother Cole nailed a 3 to make it a 12-0 game.
Cyrus Goodson put the hosts on the board at the 5:21 mark with a layup but the barrage continued with an Ammar Maxwell layup and Braden Chapman 3. Another trey from the latter before the first-quarter horn capped an explosive frame where the visitors led 26-4. Their advantage never fell below 19 the rest of the way.
“We talked about getting better,” Shady head coach Ronnie Olson said. “We don’t play every team in the section but we just wanted to get better because we have two big games coming up the next two Saturdays. It’s good to see different guys out there. Obviously the game was never in doubt after the first couple of minutes but the guys never played like that and they played like every possession was their last and that’s what I like about them – they just play to get better and they said that in the huddle. I didn’t have to say it.”
In a game where the outcome was decided by the intermission, Olson was pleased with how his team handled itself, still running the offense and generating quality looks when doing so.
“It’s funny because at halftime I told them they did it – they scored in the confines of the offense,” Olson said. “I thought they over-passed at times. They had some layups and open shots but they really gave it up, maybe not even for a better shot but for the same shot or a worse shot. How many times do you see that with a team? That’s where we’ve evolved from the beginning of the season to now. Imagine us moving the ball like that in the Charleston Civic Center. It’s going to be tough to defend.”
The win against their cross-county rivals marks the largest margin of victory for the Tigers this season, but the road toughens up quickly.
Their next two games are at Logan on Saturday and at home against Fairmont Senior on Jan. 28, a rematch of last year’s title game, one Shady lost at the buzzer.
“We’re going to get some shots up and work on a game plan for Logan on Saturday,” Olson said. “Then we’re going to get a full week of practice and get after it. We’ve got Fairmont Saturday and I don’t know what else really needs to be said about that one. That’s for it all. Our goal is to get the No. 1 seed and this week is a big week for us to try and hold that seed for the state tournament. Logan and Fairmont – we’re excited.”
Braden Chapman led the Tigers with 19 points while Manns added 15. Cyrus Goodson led Indy with 13.
SS: 26 17 25 20 – 88
I: 4 9 9 3 – 25
Shady Spring
Braden Chapman 19, Sam Jordan 4, Ammar Maxwell 10, Ty Austin 5, Gavin Davis 4, Cole Chapman 9, Jack Williams 6, Jaedan Holstein 2, Jalon Bailey 2, Khi Olson 5, Brody Radford 2, Brady Johnston 2, Cam Manns 15
Independence
C. Goodson 13, C. Lilly 3, C. Shumate 6, Z. Smith 3
3-point goals – SS: 11 (B. Chapman 2, Austin 1, C. Chapman 4, Olson 1, Manns 3) ; I: 3 (Goodson 1, Lilly 1, Smith 1)
