WVSSAC Boys State Tournament: Championship Saturday

<!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">AA: Williamstown vs. Wheeling Central</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2822611,"width":"597px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/sancomb2.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/sancomb2.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-2822611" style="width:597px;height:auto" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo credit: Olly Reed Sports</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2211906' first='Eli' last='Sancomb'] wrapped up this tournament and his junior campaign with yet another dazzling performance against fellow Region I foe Williamstown. Sancomb posted a 26 point, 15 rebound, 6 assist, 2 steal, 2 blocks stat line and was simply dominant in every facet of the game, as a Division I prospect should be. Helped by his right hand man [player_tooltip player_id='1851975' first='Max' last='Olejasz'], who had quite a tournament performance himself, putting up 14 points and 7 rebounds while controlling the paint on both ends, as he'd done all week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Williamstown hampered by Central's smothering defense had an off shooting performance shooting 33% which is quite low for their standards. The three scoring monster of [player_tooltip player_id='1867669' first='Cruz' last='Isaly'], [player_tooltip player_id='1578750' first='Jayden' last='Bryant'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1578760' first='Parker' last='Schramm'], who've been fantastic all year in the scoring column shot an uncharacteristic 25% from the floor and 5-22 from beyond the arc, which has served them well all season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hard to find two AA teams with a combination of talent and coaching that these two have which provided for a great level of basketball but Williamstown just couldn't muster enough to overcome the dominance of junior Sancomb, who 24 hours later would have his first Division I offer in hand from Drexel and a second by Monday from in state Marshall. Central finished with a dominant 59-40 victory to claim yet another state title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">AAA: Nitro vs. Bridgeport</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2822612,"width":"610px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/sickles2.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/sickles2.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-2822612" style="width:610px;height:auto" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo credit: Olly Reed Sports</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bridgeport came into this game prepared to do battle in any form possible, in the end the presence of [player_tooltip player_id='2366404' first='Carter' last='Zuliani'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2410034' first='Phoenix' last='Sickles'] proved to be too much for the Nitro squad who had played their best basketball in the semi's. Bridgeport's usual suspects, [player_tooltip player_id='1573156' first='Landon' last='Sanders'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2208847' first='Jack' last='Spatafore'] were excellent in their performances scoring 10 and 12 respectively. Bridgeport dominated the paint with second chance points with 14 included in the 26 overall points in the paint. Also, bench play came into effect with a boost from [player_tooltip player_id='2337762' first='Gavin' last='Williams'] high energy play and 7 points in his 19 minutes. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> Nitro's squad was certainly comparable in terms of size with the likes of [player_tooltip player_id='2208854' first='Landon' last='Poniatowski'] (2 points), the 6'7" [player_tooltip player_id='2375052' first='Timmy' last='Lovejoy'] who only managed one shot attempt which failed and eventually fouled out. Nitro did get a typical performance from 6'4" forward [player_tooltip player_id='2208836' first='Ashton' last='Crouch'] who dropped 16 points with his active and relentless post play. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At the end of the contest it saw Bridgeport take a commanding lead from the outset and have the Wildcats doubled up 38-19 at the half and never look back closing it out 62-40 in a second championship blowout of the morning. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">AAAA: George Washington vs. Spring Mills</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2822614,"width":"556px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/thomas2.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/thomas2.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-2822614" style="width:556px;height:auto" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo Credit: Olly Reed Sports</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This game featured everything basketball fans wanted for a state championship game, big time recruits, up and down play, great shooters, dunkers and excellent coached teams. Of course the storyline pregame was seeing [player_tooltip player_id='2208821' first='Caleb' last='Thomas'] square off against [player_tooltip player_id='1851878' first='Noah' last='Lewis']. The two did do battle, however the pace of the game didn't lend itself to a robust scoring column despite those two being leading scorers for their respective squads. Both teams being defensively focused held each other to just one opponent in double figures with Thomas scoring 15 and Lewis 11. And we could tell it was quite a defensive battle in the blocked shot category as [player_tooltip player_id='2208821' first='Caleb' last='Thomas'] recorded 6 and [player_tooltip player_id='1851878' first='Noah' last='Lewis'] ended with 4. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>George Washington had a huge boost, as they'd had all week, from [player_tooltip player_id='2395983' first='Dominic' last='Sprouse'] in this game where he ended up with 9 points on 4-5 shooting (only miss on a [player_tooltip player_id='2208821' first='Caleb' last='Thomas'] block) including 1-1 deep. Sprouse's play was a big contributor all week for the Patriots and looks to be their top scoring guard coming back next year. Meanwhile Spring Mill's [player_tooltip player_id='2208850' first='Max' last='Anderson'] was certainly the big story here and the difference maker on this Saturday night championship. Anderson came off the bench and scored a perfect 4-4 including 1-1 from three to record 9 points and 5 rebounds which seemed to be the difference maker in the end. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the end, the superstars proved to still be super in Thomas and Lewis, but the sneaky guard from Spring Mill's bench was the clincher closing it out 41-38 to give Spring Mills their first ever state championship in boys basketball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">A: Tucker County vs. Tug Valley</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2822615,"width":"576px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ferris2.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/ferris2.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-2822615" style="width:576px;height:auto" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo credit: Olly Reed Sports</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A clash of single A titans who split the regular season contests converged for the night cap and final championship game to conclude the WVSSAC boys basketball season. Tug Valley who has the reputation for up-tempo basketball and shooting the three ball at first touch actually scored over half their points in the paint with many of those in transition from turnovers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tucker's ace point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1412065' first='Trevan' last='Bonner'] struggled to get to his scoring average and ended up with 12 points but did record 8 rebounds to help the cause. Bonner has been one of the state's premier and high scoring point guards for two years and is finally getting some recruiting traction. Meanwhile high flying [player_tooltip player_id='2382654' first='Garrett' last='Wilfong'] hampered by a previous ankle injury that week managed a double double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, ten on the offensive end. Wilfong showed alot of toughness playing through certain pain associated with the ankle injury. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tug Valley did exactly what they wanted to in order to win this game and championship. Defend shooters to the point of running them off the three line and into help defense. Offensively [player_tooltip player_id='1851879' first='Braydun' last='Ferris'] was spectacular scoring on every level shooting 12-19 and 3-4 from three scoring 27 points as well as 6 assists and 3 steals. Ferris had been good in all three games and certainly capped a great week with the most impressive of performances. Not to be outdone, [player_tooltip player_id='2382657' first='Kaden' last='Hale'] finished with 15 and [player_tooltip player_id='2382659' first='Ashton' last='Davis'] with 10. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tug Valley pulled away in the in the third with outscoring Tucker 24-9 behind 4-4 shooting beyond the arc by four different Panthers including Ferris, [player_tooltip player_id='2822627' first='Bryson' last='Elia'], Davis and Hale. After gaining a single point in the fourth the game ended with Tug Valley ahead 65-45 and Tug raising the trophy. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->