CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Shady Spring had fallen short against Fairmont Senior in each of the last two Class AAA title games.
The Tigers were determined to prevent history from repeating itself.
Shady Spring overcame a 10-point deficit after one quarter and scored late to force overtime, before making 9-of-10 free throws in the extra session and coming up with a final stop to secure a 58-55 victory at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
“Feels great to be state champions. What a freakin’ game,” Shady Spring head coach Ronnie Olson said. [Fairmont Senior coach David Retton] has been the epitome of what a great coach and program is. If we’d have lost, I’d say the same thing. It’s a grind and like a chess match. They’re not better than us. We’re not better than them. It was about who’s going to be the better team today and execute a little better. What a state championship game. We’ve been in four state championships in a row and two out of four is pretty good.”
Shady Spring, a No. 2 seed, also won the championship in 2021 and finished with a 23-4 record. The Tigers didn’t have the result secured until a tying three-point attempt from Polar Bears’ guard Andre Grant missed off the rim with time winding down in overtime. Although Fairmont Senior’s Tre Cumberledge came up with the offensive rebound and passed out Julz Butler, his attempt at a tie was late and off the mark.
“As a coach, I always look at what could I have done differently throughout the course of the game,” Retton said. “These guys are winners and they’ve been winners all year. What I love about these guys is there’s a lot of emotion and that’s part of athletics. That’s a beautiful thing. These guys have it and we’re four points short.”
The Tigers’ only deficit of overtime came with 1:26 to play when Grant scored on a drive to the basket, though he failed to convert what could’ve been a conventional three-point play. Jack Williams made two free throws on the ensuing possession to put SSHS on top for good and start a theme to close it out with the Tigers making 8-of-8 free throws over the final 1:07 of OT.
Jalon Bailey was 4 for 4 during that stretch, including a pair that pushed his team’s lead to 56-53 before Grant countered with two free throws with 21 seconds remaining.
Williams added two more free throws with 9 seconds left to change the complexion of the finish and force the Polar Bears into trying a triple.
“If I make both, it pushes it to a three-point game. Fairmont typically doesn’t shoot the ball really well,” Williams said. “It’s a lot easier to defend the three than an Andre Grant going at you downhill.”
Each team was without its top player for the final few sequences as Polar Bears’ guard Zycheus Dobbs and Shady Spring swingman Ammar Maxwell both fouled out in overtime.
Those two battled throughout and each player made it tough on the other.
“It’s always a fun matchup with Ammar. He’s a top player in the state,” Dobbs said. “I give him a lot of credit. He gave me a hard morning. Hopefully I gave him a hard morning, too. He’s a great player.”
Dobbs finished with 15 points, seven blocks, six assists and six rebounds, and scored all but two points after halftime. Maxwell had 14 points and 13 rebounds and made 6-of-7 free throws, including one to start the overtime scoring.
“He’s big and strong, and I’m big and strong. We just go out there and battle it out,” Maxwell said.
The game got to overtime following a fourth quarter in which both squads scored 11 points after entering it tied at 38.
Shady led 43-38 with 6:07 remaining following Maxwell’s layup, but Dobbs scored his team’s next eight points, including a conventional three-point play that left No. 1 FSHS with a 46-45 lead.
When Grant scored on a driving layup with 2:56 remaining, the Polar Bears’ advantage was three.
Maxwell made two free throws with 1:12 left and Cumberledge split his two, leaving the Polar Bears with a 49-47 lead. Gavin Davis then pulled Shady even on a layup with 37 seconds left, and after Dobbs was whistled for a charging foul, the Tigers had a chance to win in regulation.
However, they turned it over in the final seconds and nearly allowed a layup off of it, only for Williams to deflect a pass intended for Dobbs out of bounds.
“It’s just a reaction. You see Dobbs under the rim and you know Grant is going throw him the ball and if he gets it there, it’s a bucket,” Williams said. “I knew I couldn’t let him catch the ball.”
With 2.1 seconds to play, Fairmont Senior had Dobbs inbound to Grant, who got a good look at a jump shot a step inside the three-point line, but missed.
“I felt like I was with the ball and blowing it in the air,” said Olson, whose team lost the 2022 final on a last-second bucket by Dobbs.
The largest lead for either team was Fairmont Senior’s 16-6 advantage through one quarter, which came on the strength of 7-for-12 shooting, nine points from Grant and a Butler triple just before time expired.
But the Tigers settled in during the second quarter, which they began on a 6-0 spurt that featured three Maxwell free throws and Williams’ trey.
After falling behind 20-12, Shady closed the half on a 9-3 spurt over 5:23 and pulled to within two on consecutive layups from Bailey and Khi Olson.
“You have two very defensive-minded teams, and guys that love to compete and love to win,” Retton said. “Their team mirrors [Olson’s] personality and there’s a lot of respect from our program to theirs.”
Despite never leading in the second or third quarters, Shady overcame a seven-point third-quarter deficit by finishing the frame outscoring the Polar Bears 15-7 over the final 4:27. Bailey accounted for 10 points during that stretch
“Ammar and Jack had their two best defenders on them so I knew I had to make plays,” Bailey said. “We were down and needed a spark. I tried to step up.”
Bailey led all players with 18 points and was 9 for 9 on free throws for a Tigers’ team that made 21-of-24 foul shots.
“I’m not going to tell you that this one is more special than the first one,” Olson said, ”but you win two, it’s not an accident.”
Williams scored 15 points and Davis added nine in the win.
Grant led all players with 28 points and Darrell Claybrook came up with six steals in the loss.
“This is a great program and I’m glad I got a coach like coach Retton. He’s the best to do it and I’m glad to play with these guys,” Grant said. “I don’t know what else I’d do if I didn’t have them by my side.”
Class AAA all-tournament team
Andre Grant, Fairmont Senior
Jack Williams, Shady Spring
Gavin Davis, Shady Spring
Jackson Crouso, East Fairmont
Tre Cumberledge, Fairmont Senior
Ty Stephens, Nitro
Ammar Maxwell, Shady Spring
Zycheus Dobbs, Fairmont Senior
Most Outstanding Player: Zycheus Dobbs, Fairmont Senior
(Shady Spring postgame press conference)