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Williamstown’s Travis named 1st team all-state

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – In terms of the pure talent level of athletes, there have been few years such as the 2015-16 season in W.Va. Class A boys basketball.

The Class A All-State Team, announced by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association, is a testament to some of that talent.

Williamstown’s Landon Travis was named to the Class A first team. Travis capped off a stellar high school career with an impressive senior season performance. He averaged 17 points per game this year and was a major contributor for a Yellowjackets team that spent the majority of the season ranked in the top 10 in Class A.

Travis, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark this year, was also named the Little Kanawha Conference’s Player of the Year recently.

He was a four-year contributor for Williamstown, and head coach Scott Sauro praised his versatility.

“He started about half the games his freshman year,” said Sauro, who watched Travis shoot 56 percent from the field to go along with averages of six rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals an outing. “He can play the one through the five in the same game and he’s a guy that’s just steady.

“We had games where he brought the ball up as the point guard and then guarded their biggest player. He was so versatile. I’m telling you, the kid works like crazy. He really tried to make himself a better player and he did. He obviously had some natural ability, don’t get me wrong, but he really worked at it and he is very deserving.”

Wheeling Central’s Chase Harler, who has signed to play for head coach Bob Huggins at West Virginia, headlined the group as the captain of the Class A All-State Team.

“Harler is such a tremendous player and I wish him well at West Virginia,” Huntington St. Joe coach Ross Scaggs said.

“He’s got a great skill set and he’s a terrific player.”

Harler, who was also named as the 2015-16 Gatorade W.Va. Boys Basketball Player of the Year, averaged 24.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while being one of the top matchup problems in the state.

The Class A championship featured a special matchup between Harler and Huntington St. Joe’s Keith Clemons, who was also named to the Class A First Team.

Both went head-to-head into an overtime classic and, in the end, Clemons and the Irish earned the Class A championship with a 67-65 win.

Clemons finished with 20 points, five assists and five rebounds while Harler had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Harler leads a strong nucleus of four seniors nominated to the Class A First Team while Clemons heads the strong pack of underclassmen who will continue to bring elite level basketball to W.Va.’s smallest classification.

In addition to Travis and Harler, seniors named to the team include Magnolia’s Preston Boswell and Tucker County’s Seth Evans.

Boswell led all players in the state, scoring 35.4 points per game. He also added 4.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per night while leading the Blue Eagles to the Class A semifinals.

Evans was critical in leading Tucker County back to the state tournament. In a year where guard play reigned supreme, Evans was the premier post presence in Class A, scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds per game for the Mountain Lions.

While the seniors were strong, the underclassmen proved just as tough with Clemons leading the group, which includes three juniors and one sophomore. Three of the four underclassmen are receiving strong Division I interest.

Clemons’ nomination to the Class A First Team served as vindication that he was back after missing his sophomore season with a knee injury. The Irish junior averaged 17.2 points, 7.5 assists and four rebounds per game while elevating his game at the state tournament to lead Huntington St. Joe to the title.

Clarksburg Notre Dame point guard Jarrod West is one of the top overall talents in the state and is receiving high-level Division I interest. West averaged 25 points per game, five rebounds, five assists and four steals per game while leading his team to the Class A quarterfinals.

Bishop Donahue’s Taylor Straughn was also one of the state’s leading scorers, averaging 27.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game to go along with 2.1 assists each outing.

The lone sophomore on the Class A First Team is Tug Valley’s Jeremy Dillon. The 6-4 sophomore who is already receiving interest from Marshall averaged 16.8 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game for the sophomore-laden Panthers, who reached the Class A semifinals.

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