Charleston – Shady Spring’s routinely dug itself out of holes in the Charleston Coliseum over the last five years.
Friday’s proved too deep for the now-dethroned Class AAA state champions.
After scoring the first bucket of the game, No. 2 Shady yielded a 15-0 run, managing just three points in the opening quarter of a 63-49 loss to No. 3 Nitro in the Class AAA semifinals Friday morning in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
The win sends the Wildcats to Class AAA state championship game where they’ll face the winner of No. 1 Bridgeport-No. 4 Fairmont Senior on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. It also marks the first time since 2019 (there was no tournament in 2020) that Shady will not be playing for a state championship.
For the Tigers almost every part of the first quarter was uncharacteristic. They turned the ball over five times leading to 10 points for the Wildcats who led 15-3 after a frame.
“I felt like we would have the advantage to start the game,” Shady head coach Ronnie Olson said. “They took hold of the game early, they jumped us a couple of times and we gave the ball up which led to easy buckets. That kind of set the tone for the game but we had the game for the taking and had a couple turnovers in transition.”
Shady spent the rest of the game playing catch-up, cutting the deficit to one possession in the second and third quarters but Nitro responded with a run each time.
The Tigers took their first and only lead when Jalon Bailey hit Brody Radford for a backside layup.
From there the Wildcat assault ensued. Ashton Crouch kicked it off with a layup before Timmy Lovejoy and Ty Stephens went back-to-back from 3, prompting a Shady timeout. It did little to shake Nitro which responded with another 3 from Stephens out of the break.
“It gave me confidence back in my shooting,” Stephens said.
On the mat, the Tigers sparked an 11-2 run to open the second quarter, powered by the senior trio of Jack Williams, Jalon Bailey and Khi Olson.
Olson kicked it off with a 3 before Bailey got to the rim with another bucket. Another Bailey layup capped the run, bringing Shady to within a possession at 17-14 but a timeout regrouped the Wildcats who got two more 3s from Stephens in the half for a 10-4 run to close the half ahead 27-18.
Trailing 31-23 early in the third, Shady ripped another run, holding Nitro scoreless for 5:32 to get it back within two at 31-29. But another 6-0 Nitro run extended the lead again. Shady never got within a possession the rest of the way with the Wildcats netting 8 of their 11 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. Adding insult to injury was the loss of all-stater Williams who suffered an ankle sprain in the third quarter and was unable to return for much of the game.
“We told them when it was 15-3 that Shady ain’t going away,” Nitro head coach Austin Lowe said. “Isn’t that what they do? Making shots? That’s a big thing. We come up here Wednesday, we didn’t shoot the ball very well. (Stephens) was 2-for-10. Who cares? The next one’s going to go in. And I think he shot four or five in the first half and that makes everything easier on us when he’s going because it takes pressure off Ashton (Crouch) and (Landon) Poni(atowski) inside. But that was the biggest thing, we made shots.”
The loss brings to an end the careers of seniors Jack Williams, Khi Olson and Jalon Bailey who led the program to a title a year ago.
“I’m proud of my guys and I’m happy I’m here with them and then men they’ve grown into,” Coach Olson said. “I’ve seen them since they were little, sleeping at my house and my son staying with them and now we get to end this journey together, a day earlier than we wanted to. But I’m proud of them. I’d be upset if we didn’t;t give max effort but we gave max everything and I’m happy to be here with these three.”
Stephens led all scorers with 26 points while Bailey netted 16 for Shady.
