While University High fell short of reaching its ultimate team goal of reaching Charleston and getting a shot at Huntington High’s “Dream Team,” senior Jedd Gyorko had what would have to be called a dream season.
Named today to the Class AAA All-State team, Gyorko also has been named The Dominion Post boys Player of the Year and joins Morgantown High’s J.T. Lewis and Jay Fletcher and Preston’s Josh Adams and Major Myers on the All-Area team.
Morgantown High’s Tom Yester, whose team turned a difficult start into a trip to the state tournament before losing a heartbreaking, two-point game to runnerup South Charleston, was named The Dominion Post Coach of the Year.
The 5-foot-10 Gyorko averaged 18.2 points a game and helped UHS to two victories over crosstown rival MHS during the regular season but come playoff time Yester’s team won the sectional to knock the Hawks out of contention.
“You still have to consider it a pretty good year. We were 18-6. The expectations we had did not come true but there’s always a loser in games,” Gyorko said.
And while basketball is a team game, it is built around the individual skills of the players and no one could do more on a court than Gyorko, who could pop the 3 or slash to the basket.
“We gave the ball to him in tough situa- tions,” Hawks coach Bruce Clinton said. “Most of the time he delivered. He proved himself to be one of the finest shooters ever to play in this area.”
The team seemed to follow Gyorko’s lead.
“When he hit his first shot, it picked everyone up,” Clinton said. “We rallied around Jedd.”
What no one knew was that Gyorko played with an injured shoulder for the season’s final five games and still averaged around 20 points a game.
“The trainer said I stretched some ligaments. In the heat of the game, I tried not to think about it too much,” he said.
According to Clinton, Gyorko engineered an amazing turnaround in the UHS program.
“He was instrumental in turning the program around,” Clinton said.
When Gyorko started basketball as a freshman, he wasn’t serious about the sport. Baseball was his first love and he will be playing that sport at West Virginia University next spring.
“Basketball was always something to do for fun, to stay in shape, especially my freshman year. We went 2-21 and I was wondering what I was doing out there,” he said.
“But as the program grew, it became more serious. I believe we have set the building blocks in place to keep growing.”
Lewis, a senior who was named second team All-State today, was Morgantown’s do-everything star, averaging almost 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists a game.
“In all the years I knew him he has shown me one thing. He loves to play. He’s like a kid in a candy store when he’s out there. You see it in the movement, the motion and the energy,” Yester said.
What’s more, Lewis was a strong defensive player.
“He’s a terrific defender, the only guy we had could defend all three positions — point, the wing and the post,” Yester said.
Fletcher, a junior, is an athletic player who gave MHS its motor.
“Jay is an interesting kid. He’s almost too unselfish sometimes. We wanted him to score a little more. Next year he will,” Yester said.
“He has great timing and a very good defender. He’s a contain defender. You don’t get around him.”
Fletcher averaged 10 points and 4 rebounds a game.
Adams and Myers made Preston into a strong presence all season long.
A 6-3 senior, Adams average 15 points and 8.2 rebounds a game while Myers, a 6-0 junior point guard, averaged 11 points and six assists.
“Josh Adams is a great kid with a great desire,” said coach Barry Sanders.
“And Major Myers is a young man with great intelligence who knows how to play the game.”
Yester had a difficult coaching job with this year’s Mohigans.
“It was a tale of two seasons,” he explained. “We had our struggles early getting chemistry and finding people to play the roles they needed to play. We kind of ground it out slowly,” said Yester, who has coached 25 years at Morgantown after nine years as University’s head coach and another year at Rowlesburg.
“After the Martinsburg game we seemed to come together. People accepted each other better and formed more of a common goal. We finally got to the point where we were confident.”
