Frampton brothers chosen captains; Wilfong, Birch on first team

Add another to the list — players from the same team being named first- and second-team All-State captains.

Poca senior Noah Frampton was named captain of the 2015 Class AA All-State first team as selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. His brother Luke, a sophomore, was named captain of the second team.

The rare dual family honor seems fitting considering Poca’s undefeated season was the first in the state in 28 years. Capping that 1986-87 campaign was Paden City finishing 27-0 and winning the Class A crown with a 10-point victory over Bramwell.

Noah Frampton, who is joined on the first team by sophomore teammate Elijah Cuffee, was the catalyst for Poca’s historic run through the state tournament, which included rebounding from a 16-point deficit to defeat Fairmont Senior in the title game. The Dots will carry a 41-game regular season winning streak into next season.

The Polar Bears were rewarded for their march to the state title game as the only other program with two players on first team — senior guard Tavon Horton and junior guard Darhius Nunn.

Filling out the first team are Westside senior Justin Cogar, a power forward who will join the West Virginia University football program as a preferred walk-on; Bridgeport senior forward John Wilfong, whose Indians reached the state semifinals in his third consecutive state tournament appearance; Robert C. Byrd senior swing Devonti Birch, who also made it to states three straight years; and Mingo Central senior swing Dikembe Dixson, a native of Freeport, Ill., who moved to Matewan prior to his junior campaign and settled in with the Miners.

As for the captain, Noah Frampton, he is one of three players picked on the first team for the second consecutive year. The others are Wilfong and Birch, who also earned first-team honors in 2013 as a sophomore.

A 5-foot-11 guard, Frampton helped carry the Dots to the state title, averaging 21.3 points in three games, 5.1 more than his regular-season average (16.2). His 27 points against the Polar Bears was a season high.

He has accepted a preferred walk-on offer from Marshall University after concluding his career with 1,322 points, 157 3-pointers, 304 assists and 180 steals in 104 games.

Frampton heaped praise on his teammates after learning of his captaincy.

“This has been an amazing season,” Frampton said. “The best teammates anybody could ask for. As soon as we lost last year we were in the gym. Crazy ... great feeling to win this and go undefeated.

“You get everybody’s best shot every night out. You have to prepare harder than every other team, work your butt off. Everybody on our team does that. We got to tournament time and said we’re 0-0 right now. We have to win every game or we’re going home.”

Cuffee, a versatile 6-3 sophomore guard/forward, is the younger brother of former Poca star Jason Cuffee, who recently wrapped up his college career at NCAA Division II Cedarville University.

Elijah Cuffee scored 371 points in his second season as a starter for Poca, giving him 750 entering his junior campaign. His tournament performance included a 29-point showing in a 59-49 semifinal victory over Cogar and Westside. Additionally Cuffee, a 74.3 percent foul shooter this season, bounced back from a 2-of-9 showing at the foul line in the semifinal to hit all five of his attempts against Fairmont Senior.

He already has received offers from Marshall, Liberty and Longwood.

Cogar, a second-team pick as a junior, did all he could to get the Renegades over the hump against Poca in the state semifinals, scoring 21 points, hitting two of his four 3-pointers and adding nine rebounds and three assists. He turned down a scholarship offer to play football for the Mid-American Conference’s Toledo Rockets to walk on to the WVU football program.

The 6-4 Cogar averaged 17.6 points and 10.8 rebounds for coach Nick Cook’s team, joining the state tournament veterans on the first team with his third consecutive appearance. During his career Cogar, also a first-team Class AA All-State football player, set school records for career points (1,480) and rebounds (784).

The 6-2 Wilfong was the leading scorer for Bridgeport, averaging 21.2 points and 6.5 rebounds while the Indians won 42 of 53 games during his junior and senior seasons. With the defensive focus on the 6-2 forward, Wilfong scored just 17 points in two games at the state tournament. The Indians were 23-3 this season, opening with 19 consecutive wins. Their only losses were to Fairmont Senior (twice) and Preston.

Birch is a 6-2 swing who averaged 13.6 points and 5.8 rebounds to lead the Eagles to the state tournament quarterfinals and a 17-6 finish. As a junior, Birch helped Robert C. Byrd to the title game with a 23-0 record before it fell to Bluefield. In 99 games in four seasons, Birch scored 1,349 points (13.6 avg.) with 519 rebounds (5.2), 248 steals (2.5), 190 assists (1.9) and 76 3-pointers.

The Eagles were 74-26 during Birch’s time there, with three state tournament appearances, winning their first state tournament game (2013) and playing in their first championship game (2014) since the school opened in 1995 as a Harrison County consolidation of Washington Irving and Roosevelt-Wilson high schools.

Fairmont Senior’s Horton, a 5-11 guard whose nickname is “Butters,” averaged 10.6 points, but added 4.1 rebounds and was the sparkplug for the Polar Bears. In three state tournament games, Horton had 51 points, 10 rebounds, 18 assists and 14 steals.

During his senior season, Horton played in 26 games, finishing with 295 points, 104 rebounds, 106 assists and 73 steals. He was a third-team selection as a junior. The Polar Bears won their first 17 games this season.

Horton’s teammate, the 5-10 Nunn, was among the catalysts for the ultra-talented Fairmont Senior team, which was 23-3 with just losses to Bridgeport and Robert C. Byrd prior to the state championship game.

The junior averaged 14.9 points and 4.9 assists for the run-and-gun Polar Bears.

Dixson joined Mingo Central prior to his junior year and helped the Miners reach the state tournament for the first time in the school’s brief history this season. He averaged 21.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.4 steals and a bevy of acrobatic dunks. The 6-7 Dixson hasn’t decided where he’ll play college basketball, but has received offers from Bradley, Cleveland State and Marshall.

Robert C. Byrd senior center Justin Noble and junior guard Luke Dyer earned second-team all-state honors, along with Bridgeport junior Nick Greely, who transitioned well after joining the Indians’ program from East Fairmont.

Fairmont Senior’s Michael Holloway, a junior, was a third-team selection.