WVSSAC State Tournament Day 4

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">NITRO VS SHADY SPRING</h2>   <p>Day four in Charleston always means one thing, Semi-finals! And did we have some dandy matchups on paper, meanwhile on the floor not so much. Game one on Friday morning had many people's attention and anticipation with Nitro versus defending state champ Shady Spring. Boy did Nitro come out swinging and went up early and went up 15-3 after the first period with 10 of those points on turnovers. [player_tooltip player_id='2377000' first='Ty' last='Stephens'] lit it up with back to back triples while [player_tooltip player_id='2375052' first='Timmy' last='Lovejoy'] smoked one from downtown and [player_tooltip player_id='2208836' first='Ashton' last='Crouch'] led it off with a deuce. [player_tooltip player_id='2377052' first='Caylem' last='Thomas'] added a layup to cap the quarter. </p>   <p>Shady Spring outscored Nitro in the second led by two Makhi Olsen threes in the quarter to bookend an 8-0 run by [player_tooltip player_id='2377045' first='Jackson' last='Williams'], [player_tooltip player_id='2375273' first='Jalon' last='Bailey'] and Olsen. With the score tightened up at 27-18 we headed to halftime but not before Stephens dropped two more long balls to make four total at the half.</p>   <p>Second half action was brisk and saw the same scorers scoring on their opportunities. [player_tooltip player_id='2377000' first='Ty' last='Stephens'] had a couple two point buckets getting pushed off the three point line and Colin Crouch finally got into scoring mode and got a bucket late in the third. The Tigers were determined to claw back into the contest and Jack Williams pushed ahead with 7 of his own in the third while Olsen converted on four free throw attempts but Shady only gained one point of the margin putting it at 37-29 to start the fourth. </p>   <p> Finally the fourth saw both teams score big and Nitro able to maintain the lead and close it out 63-49. [player_tooltip player_id='2377000' first='Ty' last='Stephens'] scored a game high 26 points including 5-9 from three while [player_tooltip player_id='2375052' first='Timmy' last='Lovejoy'] dropped 10 points, six from deep. The Wildcats were 57% from the field and a very solid 41% from three. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">SPRING MILLS VS SPRING VALLEY</h2>   <p>Game two of the morning session pitted the battle of the "Springs" from opposite ends of the state. Both with notable prospects donning the lineups and plenty of talent. However, [player_tooltip player_id='2208821' first='Caleb' last='Thomas'] is simply a difference maker for anyone he would play with in being a versatile defender and a huge matchup problem for opponents. Wasn't a good sign for Spring Valley when Spring Mills puts them in a 18-0 deficit in the first four minutes to start the game. Four of five Spring Mills starters scored in that opening run including Thomas, [player_tooltip player_id='2324788' first='Loakkhae' last='Uth-Smith'], [player_tooltip player_id='2208852' first='Chayse' last='Shipley'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2310767' first='Akwasi' last='Opoku-Achampong']. The statistical difference between the two teams were staggering starting with 3pt% where Spring Mills shot an impressive 58% while Spring Valley only managed to shoot 2-11 for 18%. While points in the paint were nearly even, Spring Mills dominated in points off of turnovers, bench points and second chance points. Thomas was on a different level with 22 points, 17 rebounds and 8 assists, an impressive outing, however, this has been the norm for him this season. For Spring Valley were led by [player_tooltip player_id='2208848' first='Clay' last='Robertson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2345905' first='Harrison' last='Riggs'] with 17 and 14 respectively. Spring Mills never gave up the lead and finished the game winning by 92-51. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">FAIRMONT SENIOR VS BRIDGEPORT</h2>   <p>What seemed like a defensive battle did prove to be Fairmont Senior's worst offensive outing of the season. Only two players in double figures and both with just 10 points in [player_tooltip player_id='1578753' first='Julz' last='Butler'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2375557' first='Trea' last='Cumberledge']. While Bridgeport didn't exactly set the nets afire, they did enough in a couple areas to make a difference, namely with [player_tooltip player_id='2366404' first='Carter' last='Zuliani'] in the paint who recorded 15 rebounds to go with his 8 points and added 3 blocks. Zuliani proved to be a difference maker throughout the tournament. Bridgeport did get good scoring from [player_tooltip player_id='1573156' first='Landon' last='Sanders'] with 11 and [player_tooltip player_id='2337756' first='Anderson' last='McDougal'] with 16. Tournament MVP [player_tooltip player_id='2410034' first='Phoenix' last='Sickles'] did struggle from the floor on 2-9 shooting but added 11 huge rebounds as well as 3 blocks on the defensive end. </p>   <p>In the end, the eventual champions showed they were too deep and talented for the Polar Bears and rolled on 46-30.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">TUG VALLEY VS GREATER BECKLEY CHRISTIAN</h2>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1851879' first='Braydun' last='Ferris'] was the story in this game. A difference maker in this game not only with scoring but defensively. Ferris helped hold the GBC guards to a minimum aside from [player_tooltip player_id='2554070' first='Keegan' last='Davidson'] who had 12 points and 7 assists but only shot 33% from the floor. Ferris on the offensive end had 20 points and 8 assists while attracting so much attention his teammates could shake free like [player_tooltip player_id='2382659' first='Ashton' last='Davis'] who had 21 points while on fire from deep at 5-8. </p>   <p>The GBC front line steadied by senior [player_tooltip player_id='2241522' first='Drew' last='Fitzwater'], struggled to score other than the 6'8" Fitzwater himself who dropped a game high 26 points while grabbing 11 boards. Fitzwater, who's been sought by several small school programs, shot an amazing 11-12 from the floor with one of his most efficient games of the year. </p>   <p>In the end, the pace and pressure that Tug Valley presents was a tall task for young guards of GBC. GBC outscored Tug 26-23 in the fourth but the Panthers never game up the lead the entire contest and ended up pulling out a 71-63 decision that put them in the championship. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">GEORGE WASHINGTON VS MORGANTOWN</h2>   <p>It was a clash of the titans on Friday night as both teams came in with great records, talented rosters and each with something to prove. A game that saw a much slower pace than most of the week, each team tried to dissect the other and manipulate defensively. In the end, the biggest difference maker was bench points by George Washington's [player_tooltip player_id='2605829' first='Saivyon' last='Brown'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2721129' first='Kai' last='Martin'] who combined for 10 points that helped GW eventually prevail. </p>   <p>Morgantown had their typical balanced scoring with [player_tooltip player_id='2337710' first='Max' last='Frey'] (12), [player_tooltip player_id='2375610' first='Amarion' last='Johnson'] (10) and [player_tooltip player_id='2164534' first='Waylon' last='Colistra'] (12), but with GW's [player_tooltip player_id='1851878' first='Noah' last='Lewis'] lurking in the lane shots weren't as easy easy. Meanwhile on offense, Lewis had his own struggles shooting from the floor (6-16) however, his mark on the game was made at the foul line where he was 6-8 and the only Patriot that scored at the charity stripe. </p>   <p>George Washington had a huge boost from freshman phenom [player_tooltip player_id='2395983' first='Dominic' last='Sprouse'] who had a tremendous tournament showing. In this game he was very efficient on 4-7 shooting with 2-3 from deep and ending up with 10 points. Sprouse was impressive handling Morgantown's ball pressure as well and showing great composure throughout. </p>   <p>George Washington finally pushed ahead to close it with a [player_tooltip player_id='1851878' first='Noah' last='Lewis'] layup to tie and then two Lewis free throws to pull it out by two and advance to Saturday's championship versus Spring Mills. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">TUCKER COUNTY VS EAST HARDY</h2>   <p>The night cap and final semi-final of the day before Championship Saturday! Two powers from the eastern part of the state had traveled in to the capital city and found themselves doing battle. Tucker led by senior gunslinger [player_tooltip player_id='1412065' first='Trevan' last='Bonner'] and senior post/forward do-everything guy [player_tooltip player_id='2382654' first='Garrett' last='Wilfong'] who had suffered an ankle sprain the game prior, but taped up and suited up to do battle. In many ways this game was played even, but the Tucker County squad converted 18 points off of East Hardy turnovers to the EH 3, as well as score 15 points from their bench to East Hardy's zero. </p>   <p>East Hardy's 6'7" center [player_tooltip player_id='2470012' first='Gideon' last='Good'], who had tied the record for blocks in the opening game (11) was a presence but could never get going on the offensive end and just managed four points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Senior guard and leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id='2382663' first='Jordan' last='Teets'] did manage 12 points himself while Evan Hamilton scored 12 as well but was just 1-10 from deep where he's been very good. </p>   <p>Tucker's balance on offense and pressure defense was the East Hardy kryptonite and pushed their shooting percentages down to 30% overall with just 14% from three. Super sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2413869' first='Ethan' last='Cummings'] came off the bench and poured in 14 points in just 16 minutes. Cummings will have to take the ball in hand next year and be one of Tucker's top dogs. </p>   <p>The game was closed out in the fourth with Tucker overcoming a 4 point deficit and going on a ten point run started off by a [player_tooltip player_id='2822057' first='Sam' last='Marks'] layup, a Bonner layup followed by a Bonner jumper then it was to the foul line where two [player_tooltip player_id='2413869' first='Ethan' last='Cummings'] free throws and a couple more by Bonner helped the Mountain Lions pull away in the last two and half minutes and advance to Saturday to take on Tug Valley. </p>