The Spring Mills boys basketball program put together its best season in the school’s brief history a year ago when the Cardinals finished 15-9.
Yet losses to Hedgesville in a sectional title game and then Jefferson a region co-final left a sour taste within the program throughout the offseason after the Cardinals missed out on what would’ve been their first state tournament appearance.
If the start to the 2023-24 season is any indication, Spring Mills, which opened in the fall of 2013, is prime to break through this time around.
The Cardinals (10-0) are unbeaten over the first five weeks of head coach Luke Samples’ fifth season and have already recorded several eye-opening victories, the most notable of which was a 53-49 win over two-time defending state champion Morgantown. That brought an end to the Mohigans’ 49-game win streak over in-state opponents and allowed SMHS to improve to 7-0 at the time.
Perhaps most importantly, it proved to the Cardinals they have what it takes to hang with and defeat a program that’s been the cream of the crop of West Virginia high school basketball over the last few years.
“Our goal is to get to Morgantown’s level. We were fortunate enough to beat Morgantown,” Samples said. “We’re not on Morgantown’s level by any means. They’re two-time defending state champions and we’ve won zero. This year, we wanted to prove that we can beat anyone and we have what it takes. It takes selflessness and we all have different roles.”
Samples was well aware of his team’s caliber ahead of the matchup with the Mohigans as Spring Mills scored a victory over defending runner-up Parkersburg South in its second game, which was followed by double-digit victories over Logan, Hurricane, Capital and Spring Valley in consecutive fashion.
If there was thought that complacency could set in for the Cardinals following the triumph over Morgantown, it’s been erased over the first two weeks of January. During that time, Samples’ squad has recorded a 61-39 win over nearby rival Martinsburg, before defeating Washington 72-40 and claiming the program’s first win at Musselman last Friday in resounding fashion, 98-27.
“We want to be elite. To beat Morgantown, we know we’re elite, but after that game, we can’t take the pedal off the gas,” Samples said. “Being No. 1 in the state is special for us, but going to Charleston and winning a state title is the goal.”
The Cardinals starting five is comprised of three juniors and a pair of sophomores. Rserve Terry Crawford is the lone senior on the team.
A balanced and athletic bunch is led by junior Caleb Thomas, who at 6-foot-7 can cause a multitude of matchup problems for opposing teams through his skill level and ability to handle the ball.
In the win over the Applemen, Thomas, a second-team all-state selection last season, made 11-of-13 shots and scored 24 points. He also had 10 rebounds and threw down several highlight-worthy dunks, including one he caught off the backboard on a pass delivered by point guard Max Anderson.
“In my opinion, we have the best player in the state and he’s also the most unselfish in Caleb Thomas,” Samples said. “He never shoots a bad shot. He was 11 for 13. That’s crazy.”
Thomas wasn’t even the team’s top scorer at Musselman, with that distinction belonging to sophomore guard Kwasi Opoku-Achampong, who canned seven of the team’s 18 three-pointers and poured in a game-high 25 points.
Anderson and fellow junior Loakkhae Uth-Smith were also double-figure scorers with 14 and 12 points, respectively, in the Cardinals’ most recent outing. The fifth starter sophomore Xavier Anderson, the younger brother of Max, gives the Cardinals a second 6-7 presence capable of affecting the game in a multitude of ways.
Opoku-Achampong, Uth-Smith and Xavier Anderson have each fit in well after moving up from the junior varsity team this season.
“We’re the guys that weren’t supposed to do it,” Samples said. “We kind of play with a chip on our shoulder. We don’t have any transfers. These kids aren’t the guys that were supposed to be making headlines and now they are because they have one goal and they want to achieve greatness. Every day, it’s so much fun, because they all like each other.”
The balance, camaraderie and togetherness within the locker room is also on display on the hardwood, with the Cardinals priding themselves on sharing the ball to get the best available shot.
It’s that unselfishness that has arguably impressed Samples most of what he’s seen from his team throughout the 10-0 start, and the head coach attributes at least part of it to the understanding his players have with one another. Every player on the SMHS varsity roster attended Spring Mills Middle School, and the team’s lone transfer is sixth man Tyler Jones, a sophomore who attended private school last year before coming back.
“We’re just searching to improve every single day and seizing every single day,” Samples said. “These kids have bought into it. It wasn’t always like that. But when you have a bunch of kids that weren’t supposed to be stars and now they’re altogether stars in their own way, I feel that’s what it takes. With the transfer portal days we live in, I’m proud to say every kid went to Spring Mills Middle. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not turning down a kid that moves into our district. But it shows, even at the Quad-A level, this is more of an old school approach to staying together all these years and trying to win one together. That’s really special.”