Shady Spring, press overwhelm Hampshire, 82-41, in state tournament

Mar. 17—CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Shady Spring is on a warpath to get back to the Class AAA title game for a third straight season, and Hampshire was just caught in the crossfires.

The eighth-seeded Trojans knew they needed to slow the tempo down to have a chance against the top-seeded Tigers in the state quarterfinals on Thursday. They never gave themselves a chance.

Hampshire struggled to get the ball up the court, as Shady Spring forced the Trojans into 28 turnovers — one off the tournament record — and sunk 11 3-pointers in an 82-41 drubbing at the Charleston Civic Center.

"Preparing for the pressure that they throw on you and getting through it, that was probably the hardest thing," Hampshire head coach Danny Alkire said. "That was evident in the first half.

"They don't give you any room to breathe. When you get across and there's two on you, if we can't get that pass to the open guy to see what's up in front of us, there is no slowing it down."

The Trojans (14-11) advanced to Charleston for the second time in three years by virtue of their road victory over Weir, 53-46, in the co-region finals.

At states two years ago, Hampshire was also seeded No. 8, and the underseeded Trojans upset Class AAA's top-ranked team Robert C. Byrd, 53-47, to shock the state of West Virginia.

The sequel had a similar lead-up, but it followed a much different script.

Hampshire took a 2-0 lead on an Easton Shanholtz bucket on its first possession of the game — and that was the Trojans' final advantage.

Shady Spring (22-3) proceeded to score 24 of the next 26 points to stun Hampshire. The Tigers led 27-6 after the first quarter, 49-19 at the half and 65-28 after three.

The Tigers did it with defense, forcing 17 first-half turnovers and turning those into 31 points the other way. On the other end of the floor, Shady Spring had no giveaways before halftime.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, Shady Spring's edge in points off turnovers was 38-5.

"We've seen a bunch of presses this year, but that press, it was something I've never seen before," said Hampshire guard Jenson Fields, who finished with 10 points. "They just ran, they jumped. You turn your head, and they're there."

Hampshire's upset win over RCB in 2021 indirectly cleared a pathway for Shady Spring to capture its first championship coming from the other half of the bracket, beating Wheeling Central, 55-43, in the title game.

Shady Spring got back to the final game last year but dropped a heartbreaker to Fairmont Senior, 60-59.

"We were very cognizant of that," Shady Spring head coach Ronnie Olson said of Hampshire's run two seasons ago. "They were the eight seed, only one in history. That's pretty cool. I know as much as they talked about that, we talked about that too.

"We just said, 'Let's play like we're better. We're champions. ... Let's come out and play like it.'"

Shady Spring shot a blistering 20 of 32 from the field before halftime. The Tigers made 33 of 58 shots for the game (56.9%) and 11 of 26 from 3-point land (42.3%).

Ammar Maxwell was the best player on the floor Thursday, making 10 of 14 field goals for 22 points to top Shady Spring. Braden Chapman (15 points), Cam Manns (13) and Cole Chapman (11) also finished in double figures.

Eleven different Shady Spring players scored.

Shanholtz, who was a key member of Hampshire's last tournament team as a sophomore, ended with a double-double at 17 points and 12 rebounds. He made 7 of 11 attempts from the field.

"It was an experience," Shanholtz said. "I'm just happy to be back. It's tough having a team like that first round, but we went out, had nothing to lose, and just soaked it all in and had fun."

With the new state tournament format, Shady Spring will have to win three games in three days to win its second title.

Shady Spring pulled its starters entering the fourth quarter holding a 37-point lead, much to the ire of his players.

"I know they were fussing, they changed my mind. Cam (Manns) was like, 'coach, one more minute,'" Olson said. "Then I realized, I'm the coach."

Shady Spring will play the winner of Herbert Hoover and Scott in the state semifinals on Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Hampshire graduates three players that started in states on Thursday — Shanholtz, who is committed to Mount Union, Canyon Nichols and Mason Hott. The Trojans will also lose fourth-years Dom Strawn, Hunter Wilfong and Jordan Hoffman.

Fields and point guard Jordan Gray, who had five points and a team-high three assists, will be the Trojans' key returners.

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.