HS Boys Basketball: Chapmanville’s Terry jumps top of class in AAA

Shady Spring senior Coby Dillon named first-team

photos by the WVSSAC

By MATTHEW BRITTON

for The WVSWA

Chapmanville sophomore Keaton Terry has been named the captain of the Class AAA All-State boys basketball first team, released Thursday by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association, marking quite the jump for the 6-foot-7 forward who was named to the second team after his freshman campaign a season ago.

Terry is the only underclassman to be honored as a first team selection on this year’s list.

He averaged a double-double in the Tigers’ fourth state championship season by scoring 15 points per game and grabbing 14 rebounds.

Terry’s vital 23-point, 19-rebound showing in Chapmanville’s 71-67 victory over North Marion in the WVSSAC Class AAA state tournament final on March 21 also led to the 17-year-old being selected as the tournament’s MVP.

Terry faced adversity early in his monster season, as he missed the first 10 games because of a broken hand.

“I’m super proud of him. He had a great second half of the season,” Chapmanville coach Brad Napier said. “It took him three or four games to get back in the swing of things, but in those last six to eight games of the season, he was pretty dominant. I thought that you could see a little bit of what he could do in the state tournament. He’s still not 100%. When he gets to 100%, he is a really good player.”

Terry is one of three sophomores who started for the Tigers.

“The whole sophomore group that we have is really special, and we have a lot of talent in that group,” Napier said. “The sky is the limit for all of those guys. They still have two years to develop and refine their skills. We are expecting big things in the future from Keaton and all of those sophomores.”

Terry already has a ring as he makes the turn in his high school career.

“It just feels really crazy. It was very shocking,” Terry said. “I’m grateful that we could win it for the seniors and fans, most importantly. I’m just really glad we did that, because it was a battle until the end.”

The Tigers big man plans to take advantage of the opportunity to develop further over the final two seasons of his high school career.

“I just plan on working and getting stronger,” Terry said. “I have to develop my outside game a little more, and just work on everything so that I can be the best that I can be.”

State runner-up North Marion produced two junior first-teamers in Eli Ramsey (20 points per game) and Connor Balwanz (16 points).

Balwanz scored 16 points and dished out 10 assists in the championship game for the Huskies and Ramsey added 14 points and five boards.

Balwanz jumps up from honorable mention on the 2025 All-State list, and Ramsey’s name was absent a season ago.

Shady Spring standout Coby Dillon’s first-team spot serves as the first All-State nod of his career.

Dillon averaged 21.5 ppg, 4.4 rebounds and four assists in his final go-around with the Tigers.

East Fairmont 6-3 junior Cayden Cooper is also a first time All-Stater. The Fairmont Senior transfer impressed by leading the Bees in scoring with 18.7 ppg. East Fairmont entered the tournament as a No. 6 seed and fell to third-seeded Bridgeport 58-37 in the opening round. Cooper played solidly despite the final score, leading the Bees with 19 points and adding six rebounds.

Bridgeport junior Anderson McDougal jumps to the first team after an honorable mention nod a season ago. McDougal scored 15.1 points per game this season. He put up 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting in the state quarterfinal win over East Fairmont before shining in the semifinal loss to North Marion with 18 points and five boards.

Spring Valley senior Harrison Riggs (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Winfield junior Brody Ilderton (15 points, 10 rebounds) joined Terry as first-teamers to average a double-double this season.

Capital senior De’Shad Williams and St. Albans’ Brogan Samms, who averaged 23.1 points, 4.3 boards and three assists per game in his junior season, wrapped up the first team and joined Riggs as the only players to receive first-team nods despite missing out on the state tournament.

The all-state second team is captained by Darrell Claybrook of Fairmont Senior. The 6-2 senior averaged 21 points for the Polar Bears.

The remainder of the second team consists of South Charleston’s Malcolm Brown, Chapmanville’s Benji Adkins, Greenbrier East’s Brody Hamric and Nathan Dixon, Ripley’s Parker Smith, Herbert Hoover’s Riley Johnson, Princeton’s Jayce Gum, Capital’s Jojo Greene and Winfield’s Owen Taylor.

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 AAA

First team

Keaton Terry, Chapmanville (captain), 6-7, Soph.

Eli Ramsey, North Marion, 5-11, Jr.

Connor Balwanz, North Marion, 6-2, Jr.

Coby Dillon, Shady Spring, 6-0, Sr.

Cayden Cooper, East Fairmont, 6-3, Jr.

Anderson McDougal, Bridgeport, 6-0, Jr.

Harrison Riggs, Spring Valley, 6-4, Sr

Brody Ilderton, Winfield,6-5, Jr.

De’Shad Williams, Capital, 6-1, Sr.

Brogan Samms, St. Albans, 6-1, Jr.

Second team

Darrell Claybrook, Fairmont Senior (captain), 6-2, Sr.

Malcolm Brown, South Charleston, 5-11, Sr.

Benji Adkins, Chapmanville,6-5, Sr.

Brody Hamric, Greenbrier East, 6-3, Sr.

Nathan Dixon, Greenbrier East, 6-3, Sr.

Parker Smith, Ripley, 6-3, Jr.

Riley Johnson, Herbert Hoover, 6-1, Jr.

Jayce Gum, Princeton, 6-5, Sr.

Jojo Greene, Capital, 6-4, Sr.

Owen Taylor, Winfield, 5-10, Jr.

HONORABLE MENTION

Logan Boyce, Robert C. Byrd; Hudson Brand, East Fairmont; Jay Brock, Chapmanville; Collin Crouch, Nitro; Dakota Dalton, Chapmanville; Trey Dawson, Keyser; Aryon Dodd, Bridgeport; Blake Justice, Ripley; Landen Keefer, Point Pleasant; Jesse Kemper, Lewis County; Matthew Medina, Hampshire; Braylon McGreevy, Keyser; Andrew Murdock, Brooke; Camryn Newsman, Robert C. Byrd; Brycen Orcutt, South Charleston; Ryan Robinette, PikeView; Gabe Short, Shady Spring; Landon Shreve, Elkins; Eli Smith, Chapmanville; Maverick Smith, Nicholas County; Matthew Stellato, Ripley; Tucker Stemple, Grafton; Ty Stephens, Nitro; Preston Watkins, John Marshall; Gavin Williams, Bridgeport.