Gallery by Karen Akers
Shady Spring rolled through the regular season losing just once to a team from the Mountain State.
Since dropping the season opener to Class AAAA No. 1 Morgantown, the AAA No. 1 Tigers have mowed down the competition, most often by double-digits.
Through two games in the postseason, Shady Spring has taken its game to another level scoring over 100 points in both sectional clashes.
Wednesday night, Lewis County took its turn at the Shady Spring juggernaut in the AAA Region 3 co-final championship.
It did not end well for the Minutemen.
Fighting off a slow start, the Tigers buried 15 shots from behind the arc and rolled to a 104-35 win.
With the win, Shady Spring earned the overall No. 1 seed for the AAA portion of the boys state tournament. The Tigers will match up with No. 8 seed Hampshire at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 16 inside the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
“This team has truly been waiting on this moment for a long time. The postseason is when they go and they take their game to another level. It is all because of this right here,” Shady Spring head coach Ronnie Olson said pointing to last year’s AAA state runner-up trophy. “That is all the motivation that they need to turn it up to another level. It has nothing to do with me, the coaches or X’s and O’s, it is all them.”
The Tigers exploded out of the gate in the first two sectional games, building insurmountable leads in the first eight minutes.
The quick start did not come Wednesday night, but the Tigers still led 19-8 after the first eight minutes.
With shots not falling and Ammar Maxwell picking up two quick fouls, it was sophomore Jack Williams that stepped in with eight first quarter points to help build the double-digit advantage.
Lewis County moved back within eight with a score from Logan Boyce before the tremors of a Shady Spring explosion started to be felt.
A triple from Braden Chapman was followed by a forced turnover, leading to a layup from the senior all-stater.
A jumper from Boyce made it a 24-12 game, but then the Tigers erupted in the full blown explosion that many thought would happen in the opening quarter.
“We knew coming in that they liked to run and jump,” Lewis County head coach Charles Simms said. “One of my main goals was to get the ball into the offensive front court. I felt like we did that to an extent, but then we didn’t get any further.”
Turnovers and back-to-back 3-pointers from Braden Chapman made it an 18-point game in a blink.
Two straight scores from Cole Chapman and a layup from Maxwell pushed the run to 13 points before Cam Manns made the home crowd erupt with a put-back slam for a 39-12 lead.
“We weren’t able to score (in the first quarter), so we weren’t able to get in our press and turn them over,” Olson said. “Once we were able to turn them over, it led to some transition and easy baskets. We felt like we could turn them over, get some easy buckets and put them away. We didn’t want to take anything for granted.”
Maxwell wowed the crowd with a reverse layup before Braden Chapman drilled his fourth long bomb of the quarter.
A foul line jumper from Cole Chapman capped the 22-0 explosion that spanned four minutes, but seemed like an eternity for the visitors.
“It seemed it was like a tidal wave there at one point. It wasn’t just two or three (3-pointers), it was four or five, just bang, bang, bang,” Simms said. “It was something we were hoping to keep away from, but (Shady) is a senior-laden team that has experience. I am starting three sophomores and two juniors. We don’t see that pressure every day.”
While Braden Chapman poured in 14 points in the quarter, he pointed to defense as the difference maker in the second period.
“We knew we had to lock down defensively,” Braden Chapman said. “We had a few mistakes in the first quarter, so we had to lock in on our fundamental defense and push the ball.”
The shooting barrage brought on comparisons to a former Tiger all-stater, Tommy Williams who also could rip off deep bombs in a flurry.
Williams is now playing at Fairmont State University.
“It comes from a lot of work in the gym and being able to watch somebody like Tommy,” Braden Chapman said about his explosive burst. “He was a great role model for me. I just know you can’t let up and you have to keep shooting.”
When the halftime horn sounded, Shady Spring had scored 37 points in the quarter and led 56-14.
“It wasn’t like the first two sectional games tonight, but what can you say about a team that holds another team to 14 points in a half?” Olson said. “What can you say about a team that puts 100 points on the board for the third straight game and within the context of not trying to run it up on people? It’s not me, it’s them.”
Olson took the “Fab Five” seniors Braden and Cole Chapman along with Manns, Jaedan Holstein and Sam Jordan out midway through the third period, but put them back in for one last curtain call to start the fourth quarter.
Walking out to a standing ovation, the five seniors also walked out undefeated on their home floor throughout their high school careers.
“I wanted that record for them. Against Huntington in the final regular season game, it was in jeopardy,” Olson said. “For them to be able to take that with them, I wanted it bad for them. Hopefully we can get a state championship to cap it off next week.”
Braden Chapman talked about the historic mark the seniors leave behind.
“It’s surreal. Coming in as a freshman the last home game felt so far away. Now it is here and I am with my brothers. I couldn’t ask for it to go any other way,” Braden Chapman said. “I didn’t know if we could do something like that. I knew we had the potential, but it is crazy. It is not just us. It is the community that has supported us, surrounded us and loved us. We just thank them.”
The Tigers won the state championship two years ago before finishing runner-up last year. Clearly the Tigers have been on a mission so far this postseason to take back what they feel belongs to them.
“I told them before the postseason that life is tough. Things can go bad and you may never have an opportunity to be involved in something this special again,” Olson said. “We have something special and we need to treat it like it is special. Let’s give each other two weeks of the hardest you have played in your entire life and buy into it. I know how much they care about each other. Lets finish what we didn’t get done last year and make it two out of three championships.”
“I think we all know what we want to do, but it has to be one game at a time,” Braden Chapman said. “We have to stay focused and lock down defensively. That is who we are and we cannot get away from that.”
LC: 8 6 15 8 – 37
SS: 19 37 33 15 – 104
Lewis County
Manny Robinson 3, Logan Boyce 16, Ben Putnam 4, Pason Kelly 8, Owen Hunt 4, Brayden Helmick 2. Totals: 17 0-3 37.
Shady Spring
Braden Chapman 27, Nate Richmond 2, Ammar Maxwell 14, Cole Chapman 16, Jack Williams 10, Jaedan Holstein 4, Javon Bailey 9, Sam Jordan 7, Khi Olson 3, Brady Johnston 2, Cam Manns 10. Totals: 40 9-14 104.
3-pointers – LC: 1 (Robinson), SS: 15 (B. Chapman 7, C. Chapman 2, Williams 2, Bailey, Jordan, Olson, Manns).
