CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The final day of high school basketball season has arrived and four championship games will be contested Saturday inside the Charleston Coliseum. A live broadcast will be available of all four games on the MetroNews Channel.
An opportunity exists for three repeat champions, while the Class AAAA and Class AAA finals are rematches from last year’s title games.
A closer look at each contest:
Class AAAA — No. 1 Morgantown (25-2) vs. No. 3 Parkersburg South (21-6), 10 a.m.
The Mohigans defeated the Patriots, 71-59, in a regular season meeting at PSHS back in January.
Morgantown also won last year’s matchup between the two programs on this stage, 56-53.
The Mohigans are playing in the title game for a third straight season and are in pursuit of their third state championship since 2016.
Guard Shar-Ron Young keys the MHS attack and is averaging 18.5 points, eight rebounds and five assists in two state tournament tilts.
Brody Davis has scored 20 points in both games for the Mohigans, making 14-of-25 field-goal attempts and 5-of-11 three-pointers.
The Mohigans are stingy defensively and will look to slow a Patriots’ attack that can heat up quickly.
“Morgantown has always been that thorn in our side,” Patriots’ head coach Mike Fallon said.
Guards Cyrus Traugh and Austin Reeves have scored 40 and 39 points, respectively, in the team’s two state tournament victories.
PSHS is aggressive and that’s paid dividends in Charleston, with the Patriots making 47-of-58 free throws in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
“They’re a mainstay in Charleston,” Mohigans’ head coach Dave Tallman said. “We’re going to get to work, give everything we have and try to deserve to win this one.”
Class A — No. 1 James Monroe (24-2) vs. No. 3 Tucker County (20-4), 12:30 p.m.
The only thing standing in the way of the Mavericks and a repeat championship is the Mountain Lions, a team that was competitive in a regular season meeting with JMHS, which prevailed by nine.
The Mavericks have allowed opponents to make a mere 4-of-36 three-pointers thus far at the state tournament, while making statements with convincing wins over Cameron and Clay-Battelle.
Eli Allen, recently named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year, has 45 points, 17 rebounds, 14 assists and 14 steals in the aforementioned victories.
Other state tournament standouts for the Mavericks include Owen Jackson, who’s made 14-of-22 field-goal attempts in a reserve role, and Collin Fox, who has 16 steals.
The Mountain Lions have an abundance of size and will look to control the paint and glass as they go for their first state championship.
Trevan Bonner has made 18-of-28 shots and scored 39 points in state tournament wins over East Hardy and Tug Valley. Ashton Lycliter and Levi Bennett have also been critical to the team’s success this week.
“I don’t think they’ll look at the January game and think we’ll just lay down tonight. It’s going to be a great game,” Mavericks’ head coach Matt Sauvage said. “Tucker County brings a lot of physicality. I tell people we may not be as big as others at certain positions, but we’re just as physical as the teams we play. Most of the times our physicality is out on the perimeter.”
Class AA — No. 3 Chapmanville (22-3) vs. No. 4 Charleston Catholic (20-5), 5 p.m.
The Tigers and Irish have navigated a balanced and challenging Class AA bracket to reach this stage.
Chapmanville has been impressive in victories over Ravenswood and Bluefield in Charleston, both of which have been competitive contests.
Thus far at the state tournament, Tigers’ guard Sal Dean has 33 points and 20 rebounds and forward Zion Blevins has contributed 27 points and 16 boards. Brody Dalton has also been a key to the offensive success with 26 points on better than 56 percent shooting.
The Irish have dominated with defense, first holding South Harrison to six second-half points in the quarterfinal round, and then holding off previously unbeaten Williamstown, 57-54.
“It’s going to be another war. They’re in championship game just like us for a reason, because they’re pretty good,” Tigers’ head coach Brad Napier said. “I’ve watched them play multiple games and there’s nobody in the state that plays any harder or better defense than Charleston Catholic.”
Offensively, Jayallen Turner and Max Wilcox have led the charge for CCHS. Turner has 38 points, 14 rebounds and seven steals and Wilcox is coming off a 21-point effort against the Yellowjackets.
Class AAA — No. 1 Shady Spring (23-3) vs. No. 2 Fairmont Senior (26-1), 7:30 p.m.
Polar Bears’ guard Zycheus Dobbs, then a sophomore, scored in the final seconds to push Fairmont Senior past the Tigers in the 2022 version of this game.
Dobbs is back, and so, too, is teammate DeSean Goode, both of which lead the charge for Fairmont Senior, which is playing on championship Saturday for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
Goode has 32 rebounds in two state tournament games and the Polar Bears’ opponents — North Marion and Elkins — combined for 29.
Goode has also scored 36 points.
Dobbs has poured in 24 points in both games and made 20-of-24 free throws.
The Tigers have a veteran starting and each player has appeared in this game twice before.
Ammar Maxwell has 34 points, while Cam Manns has 27 and Braden Chapman 26 in state tournament play to this point.
“People see the very good basketball players they have and how they play together. Along with that, they’re very blue collar,” Fairmont Senior head coach David Retton said of the Tigers. “They kill teams on the boards and with offensive rebounding and dribble penetration. They’re great at playing downhill and finding the open guy when it closes up. They score in bunches and sometimes the tendency for teams is they go on a 6-0, 8-0 run and teams try to answer back quickly against them. That’s a recipe for disaster against Shady.”