WVSSAC State Tournament Day 2

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">SESSION I</h2>   Day two first session began with great crowds considering a 9:30AM tip. Both George Washington and University started the game off with lots of energy and got up and down but slow putting the ball in the bucket. Once the ice was broke it was [player_tooltip player_id='1851878' first='Noah' last='Lewis'] taking over and scoring from anywhere he wanted. Lewis was perfect from three making both attempts and was 4-5 from the free throw line. Finishing with 24 points and a dominating 13 rebounds, Lewis was clearly on a level that nobody else on the floor could match which has been manifested with his division one offers and interest. George Washington has plenty of talent to spare and have a very deep bench with young players that'll keep that machine well oiled. Freshman stalwart [player_tooltip player_id='2395983' first='Dominic' last='Sprouse'] showed signs of his talents early on as well a [player_tooltip player_id='2721129' first='Kai' last='Martin'], a player that we've been anticipating seeing in person. [player_tooltip player_id='2434992' first='Kaden' last='Welch'] appears to be an up and coming athletic and dynamic wing/forward type player as well.   Game two was a thriller with Nitro and Ripley facing off. Nitro returning everyone from last year's state tournament team and Ripley with a very under the radar roster of really nothing but guards went down to the wire and finished 48-45 in Ripley's favor. Neither team shot the ball relatively well and registered double digits in turnovers and both just outside of 30% shooting. While the game had its ugly moments it was competitive with energetic crowds and players engaged. Senior Viking [player_tooltip player_id='2794539' first='Brandon' last='Sias'] paced the Ripley squad with 15 and tortured the Nitro defense down the stretch. Nitro's main man [player_tooltip player_id='2496407' first='Collin' last='Crouch'] was Nitro's only double figure scorer with 14 but pulled down a huge 10 rebounds as well. The game came down to a loose ball recovered by Ripley and a last second three by [player_tooltip player_id='2806154' first='Kyler' last='Doss'] from the Ripley bench corner that fell short, however Ripley should be commended for being here and for the relentless effort by players and coaching staff. Nitro moves on to take on tonight's winner between Shady Spring and RCB.   The morning session wrap up rekindled the rivalry between Parkersburg South and Morgantown. The game brought great student sections and lots of pregame energy but started out slow in the scoring columns for both despite a fairly quick pace. [player_tooltip player_id='2208827' first='Navi' last='Hewitt'] got warmed up early with eight of South's first nine points and Morgantown looking for answers to stop him. Morgantown's [player_tooltip player_id='2337710' first='Max' last='Frey'] countered with a quick five of his own early on but [player_tooltip player_id='2164534' first='Waylon' last='Colistra'] quickly inserted himself into the scoring action with some very smooth moves to the bucket and a couple put backs. At the half Colistra was pacing the Mohigans with nine points at half while Hewitt was blistering it scoring 17 in the first half.   [player_tooltip player_id='2382631' first='Brady' last='Savage'] started the second half scoring with a quick put back in the first possession and answered the bell once again at 2:02 when the pace picked up and he used a spin move out of the post to drop 2 left handed. Colistra finally put the Mohigans ahead 38-36 until Mason Nutter tied it once again with a layup. with a minute left then Frey put the Mohigans ahead by two. Morgantown settled for a final shot by Marcus Goin off the bench that was off and the quarter ended 40-39 in the defending champs favor.   The fourth started with a [player_tooltip player_id='2500111' first='Matthew' last='Mullen'] layup from a great feed from Nutter and a big three from [player_tooltip player_id='2241493' first='Demarcus' last='Bandy'] put them ahead 44-41 but [player_tooltip player_id='2421841' first='Taj' last='Joyce'] answered quickly with a turnaround jumper that led to a timeout. Bandy led the charge after the break with a tough floater for two that was countered with a [player_tooltip player_id='1851877' first='Harry' last='Silvis'] layup and Colistra answered that. The pace had gotten to a fire hot pace when Bandy got the inbound and went coast to coast but was whistled for an offensive foul. This put the score at 48-45 Morgantown at the 3:31 mark after an airball and a couple fouls in play and Cam Fallon came off the bench to record his first bucket accompanied by an and one that tied the game and resulted in a Morgantown timeout. Immediately outta the timeout [player_tooltip player_id='2337710' first='Max' last='Frey'] busts a three that goes in to put the Mohigans ahead. A South turnover and two missed FT's by Morgantown and a missed South jumper resulted in [player_tooltip player_id='2382631' first='Brady' last='Savage'] using that patented spin out of the post to get yet another two and push the score to 53-48. Under a minute the Patriots were forced to foul which saw Hewitt unable to continue having five fouls. From there it was text book by the defending champs going to the line and [player_tooltip player_id='2375610' first='Amarion' last='Johnson'] getting two, South made two and we were down to 57-50 with 16 seconds left and Marty at the line again to close it out 59-50 Morgantown.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">SESSION II</h2>   The leadoff game for fans of session two was of Eastern panhandle flavor with the [player_tooltip player_id='2208821' first='Caleb' last='Thomas'] led Spring Mills taking on legendary coach Dave Rodgers Martinsburg squad. [player_tooltip player_id='2605830' first='Kyree' last='Bunny'] opened the scoring with two and was quickly answered by Spring Mills [player_tooltip player_id='2208821' first='Caleb' last='Thomas']. [player_tooltip player_id='1966428' first='Anthony' last='Owunna'] came alive in the first getting a bucket to make it 8-8. Owunna called to order again before the quarter ran out and [player_tooltip player_id='2310767' first='Akwasi' last='Opoku-Achampong'] hit a three to close the first quarter scoring out.   Second quarter action began with [player_tooltip player_id='2324791' first='Xavier' last='Anderson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2568596' first='Zion' last='Duah'] but [player_tooltip player_id='2208821' first='Caleb' last='Thomas'] was the real story. An eight point quarter including three field goals and a perfect 2-2 from the free throw line helped [player_tooltip player_id='2208821' first='Caleb' last='Thomas'] dominate this quarter.   Third quarter action was marred by many turnovers by both teams and defensive stops and missed opportunities but finally settled in for Spring Mills with Opoku-Achampong getting to the bucket along with [player_tooltip player_id='2324788' first='Loakkhae' last='Uth-Smith'] getting a couple scores while [player_tooltip player_id='2241497' first='Keshaun' last='Cheek'] finally got into the scoring column for the Bulldogs but the quarter ended with a [player_tooltip player_id='2208821' first='Caleb' last='Thomas'] bucket that put the scoreboard at 42-39 in favor of Spring Mills.   [player_tooltip player_id='2310767' first='Akwasi' last='Opoku-Achampong'] started off the fourth with two buckets that pushed the score further out of contention for the Bulldogs while the quarter saw several missed shots and turnovers by both teams, it also saw a thunderous dunk by Thomas as well as [player_tooltip player_id='2375657' first='Tyler' last='Jones'] breaking into the scoring column with a three but the quarter was capped off by a [player_tooltip player_id='2324788' first='Loakkhae' last='Uth-Smith'] breakaway dunk and [player_tooltip player_id='2310767' first='Akwasi' last='Opoku-Achampong'] chippy to end it at 65-43 for the boys of Spring Mills.   Game two matched up defending champ Shady Spring and Robert C. Byrd squads with Shady Spring prevailing 60-43 with the Shady defense being a bit too much for the boys from Clarksburg. [player_tooltip player_id='2306139' first='Logan' last='Boyce'] showed he was up to the task despite the heavy defensive pressure scoring 19 on 6-11, 3-6 and 4-4 shooting while teammate Riley Dickerson was the only other RCB player in double figures had 12 points with half of those coming from the foul line. Meanwhile Shady Spring's [player_tooltip player_id='2375273' first='Jalon' last='Bailey'] went off for 26 points with 9-16 shooting and 7-10 from the charity stripe.   The nightcap for day 2 was Spring Valley versus Woodrow Wilson where neither team had great height or length but were willing to play up and down early and often but resulted in a 15-5 advantage for the Flying Eagles early on with [player_tooltip player_id='2211913' first='Preston' last='Clary'] taking early control with 7 early points. Spring Valley did battle back to close the first quarter behind [player_tooltip player_id='2382639' first='Keyan' last='Greyson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2366408' first='Colton' last='Caldwell'] closing in at 19-13 to start the second. Second quarter saw [player_tooltip player_id='2208848' first='Clay' last='Robertson'] come alive for a couple buckets and help tighten things up to a 26-19 advantage for Woodrow after a couple made [player_tooltip player_id='2345905' first='Harrison' last='Riggs'] free throws.   Spring Valley exploded for 21 third quarter points pushing them ahead of the Flying Eagles who were held to nine points and allowed the Timberwolves to take control and not look back. Spring Valley had great scoring balance with Greyson, Robertson and [player_tooltip player_id='2366408' first='Colton' last='Caldwell'] while rebounding by Greyson (8) and Caldwell (9) was solid as well with Riggs also adding seven boards. It was enough to push the score to 34-33 after a Robertson three ball and the Timberwolves took the lead and never looked back.   Woodrow Wilson opened the fourth with a long ball from [player_tooltip player_id='2092029' first='Coby' last='Dillon'] that brought the Beckley squad a bit closer, however Robertson immediately answered with a quick layup 13 seconds later. [player_tooltip player_id='2241530' first='Jaylon' last='Walton'] who'd been quiet most of the game recorded two buckets in a row to get four of his six total. Walton who had been on a double double tear through the regular season was also held to just four rebounds. [player_tooltip player_id='2114433' first='Zyon' last='Hawthorne'] was high point man for Woodrow reaching 16 points as well as grabbing 5 rebounds along the way. Flying Eagles were hampered by a low shooting percentage which was a factor but points in the paint seemed to be the biggest contributor where Spring Valley won the numbers there 36-12. The final score was wrapped up by four straight field goals by the Timberwolves followed by a couple made free throws to push the lead out to 61-44 to end the game.                         t