By Dave Morrison There is no lack of star power for this week’s New River CTC Invitational at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center. But make no mistake, there will be some hidden gems arriving from gyms all around…
By Dave Morrison
There is no lack of star power for this week’s New River CTC Invitational at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
But make no mistake, there will be some hidden gems arriving from gyms all around the area for the premier event in southern West Virginia.
Here is a look at some of those players.
Cyrus Goodson, Independence, 6-3, Soph.
You are nearly inclined to feel for the youngster, who happens to be the brother of one of the best football-baseball players in the state.
Then you look at his basketball team, and Michael McKinney and Zach Bolen often garner many of the headlines and the attention of opposing teams.
But make no mistake. Goodson is ultra-talented and he is getting better.
This season he is averaging 17.7points per game and has shown the ability to excel inside despite giving away size.
He had a career-best 25 against Nicholas County before the pandemic shut down the Patriots for two weeks.
What really makes Goodson special is he plays hard. Real hard. Few players leave the amount of skin on floors as Goodson. He spends more time on the floor than a dust mop.
In the first game back he scored 14 points against Wyoming East and guarded Chase York, Wyoming East’s resident dust mop, and held him in check for the most part, allowing his counterpart an equal 14 points, though six of that late in the game when Independence was in foul mode.
Coach Mike Green said last year that Goodson was a player to watch in the future, McKinney said he was going to be a player that will surprise people when they see him play.
With the CTC as a stage, Goodson is ready to bust out for all to see.
Eli Allen
Eli
Allen
6'4" | PG
James Monroe | 2023
WV
, James Monroe, 6-2, Soph.
This might be Allen’s only appearance on a hidden gem type list, because he is about to explode onto scene in a big way.
The James Monroe guard has all the makings of a future Division I player, and he is already elite in several areas. The only drawback was that he missed the first half of his freshman year with an injury, but that was simply a speed bump en route to what has been a huge start for Allen and the 9-0 Mavericks.
Allen runs the point for a team averaging 73.9 points per game and his numbers reflect his role in that start.
He is averaging 14.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 3.5 steals. He is shooting 72 percent from the free throw line (21-29) and, as slasher at heart, he is hitting 52 percent of his shots inside the arc (41-79). He has scored in double figures in seven of eight games, the one he didn’t he was taken out early in a lopsided victory.
He has it all, including genes. At 6-2 Allen has already grown about three inches in the offseason.
Keynan Cook, Woodrow Wilson, 6-4, Jr.
Like Goodson, Cook grew in the offseason and it has served him well.
The has made eight starts for the Flying Eagles and gives Ron Kidd some luxury because Cook has guard skills.
He has had four double figure games this season, a high of 17 against Huntington.
The athletic Cook has quietly averaged 8.4 points and 6.0 rebounds. But don’t get taken in by those numbers. He is tied for first in steals (15), second in assists (24) and second in blocked shots (7).
While the Flying Eagles are awaiting the emergence of injured and then quarantined freshman point guard Elijah Redfern, Cook has of late played some at the point, starting there against Greenbrier East.
Garrett Mitchell, Wyoming East , 6-1, Soph.
When Warriors coach Derek Brooks arrived at the school early on Friday morning, he found Mitchell already in the gym in shorts and a t-shirt, getting shots up before school started.
Later that evening, at Independence, Mitchell had his best game to date, with a career-best 21 points, including five 3s.
The Warriors are looking for a third scorer to go with statistical leader Tanner Whitten (18.8 ppg) and inspirational leader Chase York (12.5 ppg).
Mitchell fits that bill.
As one of the freshmen called upon to play earlier than expected last season after the midseason departure of some veteran players, Mitchell is above the curve in his development.
Now he has added the ability to score to the other roles he has filled as a versatile guard.
He is averaging 9.8 points per game for Wyoming East and leads the team with 14 3s.
Chase McClung, Greenbrier West, 6-0, Jr.
But he is an integral part of the Cavaliers team, averaging 8.0 points and a team-leading 9.0 rebounds per game.
In the last three games he has two double figure games and has scored 33 points.
Jaden Holstein, Shady Spring, 6-6, Soph.
So the Tigers don’t need to score. They need him to do other things.
He is a shot blocker extraordinaire, with six in a season-opening win against Woodrow Wilson. He will get you a half dozen rebounds on a slow night.
And at 6-foot-6, he is only starting to enter his prime. With classmates like the Chapman twins and Manns. the sky is the limit.
Adam Seams, Greenbrier East,
Seams missed some time recently but returned with a double-figure game against PikeView Monday.
On a team that has seen its share of injury woes over the last two weeks, Seams’ return is a welcome site for coach Bimbo Coles.
He is the type of player that all coaches want, guys who do whatever job needs to be done. He can score, but as he showed in a scrimmage against
Capital last month, he is a guy who does a little of everything.
He is a disruptive defender. He had six steals but he also harassed Capital players into turnovers in an 85-45 East win.
He added 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. That’s called stuffing the stats. And he does that well.
Sharron Young, Morgantown, Fr.
Young is well known in AAU circles but he burst onto the high school scene in a big way, scoring 17 points in the No. 1 Mohigans season-opening win over then No. 1 Martinsburg.
He showed good court awareness, and looked comfortable working inside against older players or stepping out an hitting the 3.
All those traits he has displayed through the first half of the season, despite the ebbs and flows of a season.
It’s easy to see why he is already seen by some as a can’t-miss Division I prospect.
One a team of outstanding talent, he is already starting to become a known commodity on the high school level.