CHARLESTON — Every time Charleston Catholic thought about grabbing momentum in Saturday’s Class AA championship game, Sal Dean and Chapmanville had other ideas.
Dean, a senior guard, provided several splash plays as the Tigers took control at the outset and fended off all of Catholic’s challenges to capture a 59-49 victory at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.
It’s the third-ever championship for Chapmanville (23-3), which ended the season with a nine-game winning streak in matching the back-to-back state crowns it claimed in 2018-19.
“Super proud of these guys,’’ Tigers coach Brad Napier said. “They played their tails off all week. We had some battles. We knew with this double-A field, it was going to be a tall task to come away with a championship. Everybody over here was good. These guys were really focused and did everything we asked them to do.’’
Zion Blevins scored 19 points and Brody Dalton 16 for Chapmanville, but Dean contributed all over the stat sheet with 14 points, seven assists, a team-high five rebounds and two blocked shots — one of them perhaps the game’s key play.
Charleston Catholic (22-6), playing in the final for the first time since 2014, was seeking its fifth-ever state title, matching its previous hardware from 2000, 2006, 2007 and 2012.
The Irish were led by junior Jayallen Turner (26 points, eight rebounds) and sophomore Max Wilcox (16 points). Catholic trailed 42-35 after three quarters and was never any closer in the final period.
The Irish, whose rotation seldom goes past six or seven players, found themselves shorthanded at the start of the game when junior point guard Gio Cinco was unable to go after spraining an ankle during pregame warmups.
That stuck senior sixth man Kelan Swan into the starting lineup and vastly changed the team’s plans as far as ball-handling and defensive assignments.
Chapmanville used that advantage to vault into a 10-0 lead in the game’s first 4 1/2 minutes, getting a pair of 3-pointers from the sweet-shooting Dean, who grew up in Charleston and eventually transferred to Chapmanville after playing three standout seasons in Belfry, Kentucky.
Catholic, which went 0 of 3 shooting with one turnover during that sour start while the Tigers made 4 of 5 attempts, was never able to get within three points the rest of the night despite making several charges.
“We’re a no-excuse basketball program,’’ Irish coach Hunter Moles said. “Gio Cinco rolled his ankle about 12 minutes before the game started — pretty bad. He was going to guard Sal Dean. ... So 12 minutes until the game started, he’s not playing and we’re changing things up.
“It shook my guys in my opinion. ... The whole year, we’ve been about winning the first quarter. ... Five seconds before the game, I tell Swan, ‘Hey, bub, you’re starting, let’s go.’ It’s no excuse. It just is what it is.’’
Chapmanville owned a 30-22 lead at halftime, feeding off some uncharacteristic lapses by the Irish, who turned the ball over eight times in the first two quarters and allowed six layups by the Tigers, who were shooting 57% at the break.
“I thought we were super relaxed today,’’ Napier said. “Yesterday (in the semifinals against Bluefield), we were a little tense and shaky to start. We were almost a little too relaxed tonight, and I was a little uncomfortable. But we started out really well and were ready to go.’’
Dean, who drained a 3 to give Chapmanville its biggest first-half lead at 30-20, saved a couple more highlights for the third quarter.
After Turner scored off a Cinco feed in the low post to bring the Irish within 34-31 with 3:24 left in the third, Turner blocked a Dean layup attempt. It led to a runout for Wilcox, who appeared to have a clear lane for a basket. Dean, however, sprinted back to block Wilcox’s shot and it resulted in a layup at the other end for the Tigers’ Blevins.
“It was big,’’ Dean said with a smile. “And it prevented a basket.’’
But Dean wasn’t done.
Wilcox sank a floater from the right baseline to shave Catholic’s deficit to 39-35 with 15 seconds remaining in the quarter, but Dean beat the buzzer with a fadeaway 3 and it was 42-35.
The Irish never got closer, but kept battling, according to their coach.
“I asked them, ‘Hey, is this how we’re going out?’’’ Moles said. “They said, ‘No, we’re fighting.’
“I’m rocking with my guys no matter what. It wasn’t our night. But we’ll use this as fuel. ... Super proud of these guys, super thankful to be in this moment, thankful for it all. A tough loss. I could have got my guys a little more prepared. We got outcoached tonight for sure. All credit to Chapmanville.’’
Dean didn’t score in the fourth quarter, but the damage had been done. He finished his prep career with 1,996 points, most of them at Belfry.
“I feel like I’ve been here my whole career,’’ Dean said. “They welcomed me with open arms. I’m really glad I came here.’’
CHARLESTON CATHOLIC 8 14 13 14 — 49: Cinco 0, Swan 5, Turner 26, Wilcox 16, Ranson 2, Reynolds 0, Blaydes 0.
CHAPMANVILLE 14 16 12 17 — 59: Dean 14, Blevins 19, Workman 5, I.Smith 3, Dalton 16, Miller 0, Butcher 0, T.Adkins 0, E.Smith 2, B.Adkins 0, T.Adkins 0, Tomblin 0.
