Charleston – When you make it to the state semifinals, you continue to ride the horse that got you there.
In a rematch of last year’s title game, that’s exactly what defending Class AAA champion Shady Spring did Friday night.
Behind one of the best overall performances of Braden Chapman’s career, the top-seeded Tigers returned to the Class AAA title game with a 59-49 over No. 4 Wheeling Central in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
Shady will defend its title Saturday at 5:30 when it plays Fairmont Senior.
In a game where the Tigers went 3 of 15 from the field in the first quarter, Chapman single-handily kept pace. A 3-pointer from the all-stater cut a 4-0 deficit to 4-3. Trailing 7-3 after a Leyton Toepfer 3, Chapman hit the next gear, turning defense into offense and scoring a pair of layups off turnovers.
It was a sampling of his night as he scored Shady’s first 11 points of the game.
“First, God is great,” Chapman said. “I was praying and he really lifted me up before the game. I just wanted to keep the team in it because we were struggling scoring a little bit so I just wanted to push it and push them. I think I helped a little bit.”
“He did more than help,” Shady coach Ronnie Olson said. “He kept us in it. Offensively and defensively in that first quarter. I mean absolutely kept us in it in the first quarter.”
Olson continued to heap even more praise on the junior.
“His best,” Olson said when asked to rank the performance. “I mean his best. At the biggest moment the best star shined and he did it.”
Central pushed the lead to 11-7 to open the second quarter but four straight from Chapman tied it before an assist from Braden to brother Cole established Shady’s lead. It all jumpstarted a 16-0 run that established a 23-11 advantage for the Tigers with 1:57 left in the half.
The catalyst for the surge was the Shady defense which forced 15 turnovers in the first half, scoring 12 points off those miscues.
“They’re so good in the half court defensively they push you so far out and they make it so tough on you,” Central head coach Mel Stephens said. “Even though we executed and did what we wanted to do on the defensive end we still struggled on the offensive end for the most part. We had the lead but it wasn’t easy and once they continue that pressure and are able to get out in transition and able to turn you over – they didn’t get a lot of offensive rebounds but they got enough to give them extra possessions.”
The Tigers took a 25-14 advantage into the locker room and continued the onslaught when Braden Chapman and Ammar Maxwell found their way to the rim for layups. A pair of 3s from Quinton Burlenski and Ryan Reasbeck cut the deficit back to nine but Shady answered with one from Cam Manns, indicative of how the second-half unfolded.
After pushing the lead back to 14 Central answered with a 7-0 run but each time the Maroon Knights strung together a run or a bucket to start swinging the momentum Shady answered with a deflating basket. The last one came when Reasbeck capped a three-point play that made it a 49-43 game with 4:18 left but a pair of free throws from Cole Chapman and a layup from Jaedan Holstein were the finishing blows.
“We’re down 11 at the half and we cut it to seven there but it seemed like every time we made a big bucket there in the third quarter and early in the fourth they came right back and answered with a big one and extended it back out to 10 and kind of kept it there,” Stephens said. “But I’m proud of these guys and the effort that they gave. There’s nobody that gave us a chance coming in here I don’t think.”
While Central only turned the ball over three times in the second half, it struggled to stop the Tigers with Cole Chapman heating up. The junior was able to penetrate and dish, handing out six assists to pick apart the Maroon Knight’s defense.
“In practice we kept talking about how we needed to get into he matchup zone,” Braden Chapman said. “We find the open man and I feel like we did that really well tonight.”
“He’s being really humble man but he can just get into the teeth of the defense and tear ’em apart and make the right pass. Him and Cole both. Just super-high basketball IQs.” Holstein added.
The defensive effort that kept the Tigers in the game early earned the highest praise from Olson, who was amped to return to the title game.
“My hat’s off to the Shady Spring Boys Basketball team,” Olson said. “Because them fellas right there, they got after it and they didn’t let go. I mean you talk about, whew – all out! I’m tired from coaching them. I don’t know how they’re not tired. I mean from the gate, all out. Communicating, I mean you looked in their eye and they’re gritty they wanted it. Man. That’s what I want to start off. Hats off to my guys. They wanted it, they took it. It has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with my coaches. Those boys wanted it and they took it.”
Braden Chapman led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting, collecting six steals. Cole Chapman followed with 18 points.
Reasbeck led Wheeling Central with 18 points while Caleb Ratcliffe added 11.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on twitter @tjack94
With Shady Spring’s win tonight it marks the first time four local teams will play on Championship Saturday. Three played in 2000, but all lost. James Monroe, Greater Beckley, Bluefield and Shady all haves shots at a title #wvprepbb
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) March 19, 2022
