By Rick Kozlowski
West Virginia Sports Writers Association
With his demeanor barely changing no matter what, good or bad, Caleb Thomas is a leader.
Some might even say a quiet leader, but quite the leader he was for Spring Mills as the Cardinals fashioned a 24-1 record on the way to the West Virginia Class AAAA state championship, their first in their short history.
The 6-foot-7 senior led his team in points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots.
In doing so much for a team filled with talented athletes, Thomas, the runner-up for state player of the year in 2024, has been named the captain of the West Virginia Sports Writers Association Class AAAA all-state basketball team.
“He pretty much filled all the stat lines,” said Shannon Layton, who guided Spring Mills to a 12-0 record, including the state tournament, while serving as interim coach.
Thomas is one of two Cardinals on the 10-member team.
Junior Akwasi Opuku-Achampong, who made a record eight 3-point field goals as part of the Cardinals’ record 18 in a state semifinal victory over Spring Valley, joined Thomas on the first team.
Spring Valley also had two-first team honorees in Harrison Riggs and Clay Robertson, as did Morgantown, which saw its run of three straight state championships come to a halt in a semifinal loss to George Washington. That Mohigan pair are Marty Johnson and Brady Savage, both seniors.
George Washington is represented on the first team by junior Noah Lewis.
The rest of the first unit includes Jaylon Walton of Woodrow Wilson, Harry Silvis of Parkersburg South and Roman Kellum of South Charleston.
Lewis, Opoku-Achampong, Riggs and Silvis, are all juniors, and the rest are seniors.
Thomas averaged 14.8 points per game for Spring Mills, added 8.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.0 blocks.
He made 67.3 percent of his field-goal attempts and was 73.5 percent at the foul line.
“He does everything to lead this team,” Layton said. “He’s quiet, but he does what we need. He went to the line at the end of the championship game and knocked down two free throws.
“That moment was nothing new to him.”
Thomas’ two free throws with 11 seconds left helped clinch a 41-38 victory over George Washington in the Quad-A final.
Then Opoku-Achampong made a steal to wrap up the victory for the 11-year-old school.
Thomas was named as the tournament’s most valuable player to go with MVP honors from the Eastern Panhandle Athletic Conference. He also was an all-star in a prestigious Capitol Summer League in the Washington-area in 2024 as the Cardinals, the first West Virginia team to participate in the 50-team league, reached the final four as the only public school. The leader in blocked shots, Thomas was named to the all-league first team.
Thomas expects to play college basketball and will announce his choice of schools in a couple of weeks. However, Layton said recruiting for the smooth and fluid senior has been somewhat difficult because some recruiters have questioned his soft-spokenness.
Opoku-Achampong averaged 12.8 ppg for Spring Mills while shooting 47.6 percent overall and 44.7 percent on 3-pointers.
Spring Mills achieved its goal of winning a state championship despite an off-court issue that saw the head coach put on administrative leave and Layton take over.
“We handled the adversity and kept moving forward,” Layton said. “Our goal from the beginning of the season was to win a state championship. There are hurdles you must overcome.
“In life, things happen unexpectedly.”
Spring Mills had fallen in overtime to Morgantown in the 2024 state final.
Meanwhile, Lewis averaged 18 ppg and 8.1 rebounds for the 21-5 Patriots.
Johnson and Savage combined for 22.7 ppg, with Johnson at 12.5 and Savage at 10.2. Johnson contributed 6.5 assists per game and Savage 8.7 rebounds.
The Spring Valley duo of Riggs and Robertson averaged respective point totals of 23.0 and 22.7 points. Riggs grabbed 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 70 percent from the floor and Robertson pulled down 7.4 rebounds per game.
Walton shot 68 percent from the floor while averaging 17.5 points and 9.6 rebounds for the Flying Eagles.
Silvis averaged 16.9 points and Kellum 12.8 points and 7.8 rebounds to round out the first team.
George Washington senior Gale Lamb heads the second team as the captain.
He’s joined by seniors Keyshaun Cheek of Martinsburg, Jamari Jenkins of Jefferson, Navi Hewitt of Parkersburg South and Nate Rodriguez of Parkersburg. Juniors on the second team include Jerin Westfall of Buckhannon-Upshur, Zyon Hawthorne of Woodrow Wilson, Glenn Brown of University and Carson O’Dell of Hurricane. The lone sophomore is Brogan Sams of St. Albans.
Both Cheek, who began his career at Spring Mills, and Jenkins each averaged some 22 points per game.
It is the 105th season of the West Virginia Sports Writers Association in naming the definitive all-state teams.
Wooden plaques in the shape of the state of West Virginia that include the player’s name, school, licensed WVSWA log and the year of the honorees are available to first- and second-team all-state honorees as well as honorable mentions. They can be purchased from the Bear Wood Co. through WVSWA.org or Bearwoodcompany.com.
Class AAAA all-state
First team
Caleb Thomas, Spring Mills, 6-7, Sr. (Captain)
Noah Lewis, George Washington, 6-7, Jr.
Jaylon Walton, Woodrow Wilson, 6-4, Sr.
Marty Johnson, Morgantown, 6-0, Sr.
Clay Robertson, Spring Valley, 6-2, Sr.
Akwasi Opoku-Achampong, Spring Mills, 5-11, Jr.
Harry Silvis, Parkersburg South, 6-3, Jr.
Brady Savage, Morgantown, 6-5, Sr.
Roman Kellum, South Charleston, 6-5, Sr.
Harrison Riggs, Spring Valley, 6-4, Jr.
Second Team
Gale Lamb, George Washington, 6-1, Sr. (Captain)
Keyshaun Cheek, Martinsburg, 5-11, Sr.
Jerin Westfall, Buckhannon-Upshur, 6-6, Jr.
Zyon Hawthorne, Woodrow Wilson, 6-2, Jr.
Navi Hewitt, Parkersburg South, 6-4, Sr.
Glenn Brown, University, 6-0, Jr.
Brogan Sams, St. Albans, 6-0, Soph.
Carson O’Dell, Hurricane, 6-2, Jr.
Jamari Jenkins, Jefferson, 5-9, Jr.
Nate Rodriguez, Parkersburg, 6-0, Sr.
Honorable mention
Demarcus Bandy, Morgantown; Ethan Blackburn, Cabell Midland; Noah Brown, Hedgesville; Preston Clary, Woodrow Wilson; Waylon Colistra, Morgantown; Zach Demidovich, University; Coby Dillon, Woodrow Wilson; Josh Huffman, Wheeling Park; Taj Joyce, Parkersburg South; Levi Kiszka, Oak Hill; Bryer Mullins, Riverside; Aidan Schmidl, Preston; Zane Saunders, South Charleston, Loakkhae Uth-Smith, Spring Mills.
