Chapmanville building momentum as AA title contender

CHAPMANVILLE, W.Va. — Chapmanville has risen from a bottom-seed in the state tournament a year ago, to a legitimate Class AA championship contender in 2017.

Last year in Charleston, the eighth seeded Tigers were significant underdogs to top seed and defending champion Poca, falling to the Dots in the regular season 94-43 and 60-37.

But, the third time around — on the big stage — Chapmanville slowed the pace and held a four point lead with just under six minutes to go.

The end result was a 30-28 loss to the Dots, but an effort the helped build momentum for this season.

“Our kids played extremely well that game, especially on the defensive end,” said Chapmanville coach Brad Napier. “It was one of those things where a play here or there would have been a different outcome. I was super proud of our guys and they executed our game plan almost to perfection.”

The Tigers lost just one senior from that 2015-2016 team, returning a deep roster for this season. Chapmanville entered this week 12-3 overall, rated No. 6 among Class AA teams in the MetroNews Power Index.

The Tigers will likely move up in those rankings this week after returning the favor to Poca (AA No. 2 in the power index) over the weekend, beating the Dots 59-56 in a statement win.

Chapmanville faced three significant out-of-state tests in late December at the Daytona Beach Classic. The Tigers also faced off against defending state champion Fairmont Senior, suffering a 72-54 setback early in the year as well.

“We have a good group and I really like this team – they battle,” Napier said. “They come to work, don’t miss practice and they’re here every day. They don’t really get intimidated and we’ve played a very tough schedule. We’ve had some challenges and our guys have responded well.”

The Tigers have won seven straight games overall, as another monumental win this season came back on January 17 when Chapmanville beat rival Logan 67-60. It was the first win for the Tigers in the series since the late 1950s.

Drew Williamson scored 27 points to lead the way in that win — he averaged 20 points per game a year ago as a sophomore. But Napier points to the overall depth of this year’s team.

“Drew (Williamson) has played really well, but we have several guys who have played well to this point,” Napier said. “We don’t really have a starting-five, we have six or seven guys that we start on different nights.

“Our inside guys have really played well — Tyler Moore came off the bench and had 17 and 9 against Sissonville, while Hunter Neil has been solid and is averaging almost a double-double,” Napier said. “We have four guys that we rotate inside who have given us great production.”

All three of Chapmanville’s starting guards from a year ago returned as well, including Williamson, Kyle Browning and Dylan Smith.

Chapmanville will be one of the favorites to emerge out of Region 4 in Class AA this year, but its path to Charleston will be anything but easy as the region is one of the state’s most difficult.

Region 4, Section 1: Point Pleasant, Nitro, Poca, Sissonville, Wayne, Winfield

Region 4, Section 2: Chapmanville, Lincoln County, Logan, Man, Mingo Central, Scott

“We have a really tough section,” Napier said. “It doesn’t get any easier in the region – it’s a tough road to Charleston. But it’s going to be fun and we still have a lot of basketball left. It should be an exciting end of the year for us.”