HS Boys Basketball: Braydun Ferris repeats as Class A All-State captain

Iziah Gordon and Javonte Spencer from Greater Beckley Christian, along with Eli Patton from Summit Christian named first-team all-state

photo by the WVSSAC

By JARRID McCORMICK

for the WVSWA

Tug Valley point guard Braydun Ferris has had one of the most illustrious careers of anyone to don the silver and black in Naugatuck.

Ferris added another accolade to his long list of accomplishments on Tuesday as he was named the captain of the Class A All-State boys basketball team by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.

"I'm really blessed to be a two-time all-state captain," Ferris said. "Not many people even get one all-state selection, and I've been the captain twice. So I'm just really blessed for that."

It is the second straight year that Ferris has swept the Class A postseason awards, as he was also named the small-school state tournament MVP after leading the Panthers to their third straight state championship.

"God put in that kid the heart of a fighter, of a warrior," 15th-year Tug Valley coach Garland "Rabbit" Thompson said. "He's got a will to win that I've never seen before. He is a champion in every aspect. I'm just so proud and so blessed that I have been able to coach him the past four years."

The 6-foot-1 Ferris finished his Tug Valley career with 2,030 career points, making him just the second Panther to surpass 2,000 points.

Ferris stepped his game up on the big stage as he scored 223 points in 11 career games at the state tournament in Charleston. He led Tug Valley to a 10-1 record at the state tournament and joined former Huntington High standout and NBA player Patrick Patterson as the only players to be named to the all-tournament team all four years.

"The records themselves bear witness that he is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, player(s) that's ever come out of Tug Valley," Thompson said.

For his senior season, Ferris averaged 24.8 points a game to go with five assists and two steals a night. In the three state tournament wins, he scored 30 points twice and 26 in the other game.

Ferris made the shot that put Tug Valley ahead for good in the 64-54 win over Greater Beckley Christian in the state tournament title game. He hit the floor hard while going to the basket and was slow to get back on his feet as possession went to the Crusaders.

Ferris lingered in the backcourt, and by the time the ball came back up the floor, Ferris was calling for it. He got it in the corner and immediately swished a 3 to put Tug ahead to stay.

"As an athlete, you should have that killer mentality," Ferris said, "because if you don't have that, you're not going to be really successful. If you get knocked down seven times, you should get up eight times. You've just got to keep the confidence and want-to."

Ferris said that he has offers to continue his career at the next level from WVU Potomac State, Appalachian Bible College and Kentucky State University.

"It's hard to put into words how I feel for him. I'm so happy for him. He's going to do great things in college," Thompson said.

Joining Ferris on the first team is Panthers junior guard Zade Rash. Rash transferred to Tug Valley after playing his first two years across the river in Kentucky and fit in well with the Panthers, averaging 14.4 points a game on 41% shooting from 3. He also garnered a spot on the all-state tournament team.

"I always knew he had the ability to score," Thompson said of Rash. "But the only thing I ever asked him to really do is the other little things. Rebound, make the extra pass, run the floor, take a charge. Things like that. And he has fulfilled that obligation and even more."

Making his first appearance on the all-state squad after being a first-team selection in Class AA as a junior is 6-7 Ritchie County star Isaac Hodges. Hodges led Class A in scoring with 25.3 points a game to go with 13.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals a contest.

He led the Rebels to the state tournament and landed a spot on the all-tournament team after scoring 32 points with 16 rebounds in a 67-61 quarterfinal loss to Tug Valley.

"He's Magic Johnson of Class A," Thompson said. "He handles the ball, he shoots it, he rebounds. A very strong kid. He was a beast against us. He can do it all."

Class A runner-up Greater Beckley Christian joined Tug Valley as the only team with two first-team selections in 6-3 freshman Iziah Gordon and sophomore Javonte Spencer. The duo helped the Crusaders to a 22-3 record and the top seed in the tournament.

Gordon, whose mother Samm Nester Gordon is in the Concord University Hall of Fame with 1,655 career points, was Greater Beckley's leading scorer, averaging 21.3 points a game.

"Him just being a freshman, I mean, the sky is the limit for that kid," Thompson said of Gordon.

Spencer was right behind him as he averaged 18 points, along with 5.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists, a game. Both Spencer and Gordon were named to the all-state tournament team.

"If he's just a sophomore, then Greater Beckley has a couple of building blocks there that they can really look forward to the next two or three years," Thompson said.

Another member of the all-tournament team who also appeared as a first-team All-State selection is 6-8 East Hardy big man Gideon Good. Good averaged 17.5 points and 11.7 rebounds while helping lead the Cougars to the state semifinals for the third year in a row.

"He's a big, long, tall kid and he has improved greatly," Thompson said of Good. "He's a very good offensive rebounder. He stays around the bucket. He's very good with his footwork. He finishes well. He's a very good player."

Jumping up to the first team after leading Huntington St. Joe to the state tournament for the third straight year is Irish point guard Micaiah Ehirim. Ehirim scored 17.3 points a game for St. Joe, which won 15 games and was the only Class A team to beat state champion Tug Valley.

"It seems like he's been around forever, and he was just a junior this year," Thompson said of Ehirim. "We've had some pretty good defensive players guard him, and he continually gets to the basket. He's able to finish. He's able to create his own shot. And if you back off him, he can knock the 3 down."

Parkersburg Catholic's Luke Anderson helped the Crusaders get back to the state tournament for the first time since 2019 and earned himself a first-team All-State nod.

The 6-5 senior averaged a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds per game while helping Parkersburg Catholic to a 21-4 record.

Despite not being eligible for the postseason in its first year as a WVSSAC member, Summit Christian out of Mercer County saw junior playmaker Eli Patton land on the first team.

The 6-2 Patton averaged 21 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game for the Falcons and led them to a 14-9 record and a West Virginia Christian Education Association title.

Rounding out the first team is the second-leading scorer in Class A in Union junior Braylon Ward. Ward averaged 24.8 points for the Tigers and led them to a region tournament co-final, in which they fell to East Hardy.

Captaining the All-State second team is 6-4 Sherman junior Chase Mills. Mills and the Tide were a hair from making their first-ever state tournament appearance before losing on a buzzer-beater to Webster County in a Region 3 tournament co-final.

Mills averaged 16 points a game and helped Sherman to a 16-4 record.

Rounding out the second-team selections were Pendleton County's Chase Owens, Magnolia's Kingston Christen, Wirt County's Braylan Dawson, Austin Porta of Trinity, Caydon Arnold from Tucker County, Webster County's Joston Lewis, Clay-Battelle's Trey Huggins, Evan Hamilton from East Hardy and Paw Paw's Taylor Carder.

Wooden plaques in the shape of West Virginia that include the player’s name, school, licensed WVSWA logo and year of the honoree are available to all-state first-team, second-team and honorable-mention selections and can be purchased from the Bear Wood Co. through Bearwoodcompany.com.

Class A

First team

Braydun Ferris, Tug Valley (captain) 6-1, Sr.

Zade Rash, Tug Valley 6-0, Jr.

Eli Patton, Summit Christian, 6-2, Jr.

Isaac Hodges, Ritchie County, 6-7, Sr.

Iziah Gordon, Greater Beckley, 6-3, Fr.

Javonte Spencer, Greater Beckley, 6-1, Soph.

Gideon Good, East Hardy, 6-8, Jr.

Luke Anderson, Parkersburg Catholic, 6-5, Sr.

Micaiah Ehirim, Huntington St. Joe, 6-0, Jr.

Braylon Ward, Union, 6-1, Jr.

Second team

Chase Mills, Sherman (captain), 6-4, Jr.

Chase Owens, Pendleton County, 6-4, Jr.

Kingston Christen, Magnolia, 5-11, Sr.

Braylan Dawson, Wirt County, 5-11, Sr.

Austin Porta, Trinity, 6-0, Sr.

Cayden Arnold, Tucker County, 6-0, Sr.

Joston Lewis, Webster County, 5-10, Jr.

Trey Huggins, Clay-Battelle, 6-0, Sr.

Evan Hamilton, East Hardy, 5-8, Sr.

Taylor Carder, Paw, Paw, 6-0, Sr.

HONORABLE MENTION: Connor Booth, Man; Tanner Castle, Mount View; Kyler Carpenter, Summit Christian; Seth Cronin, Ritchie County; Colton Dunbar; Braxton Fortner, Hannan; Eli Gunter, Greater Beckley; Kolten Holbert, Gilmer County; Noah Hood, Magnolia; Trey Lester, Sherman; Carson Newsome, Tug Valley; Grady Paynter, Huntington St. Joe; Shane Plogger, Greenbrier West; Preston Randolph, Parkersburg Catholic; Cyrus Rickard, Wahama; Trent Roles, Meadow Bridge; Kamden Sams, Greenbrier West; Grayson Sanders, Man; Jabari Spencer, Greater Beckley; Jacob Wamsley, Tygarts Valley; Ryder Wright, Webster County.