Prep boys hoops state tournament: Lewis, Patriots come up big vs. University, 62-42

A few of GW’s players from that tournament team are members of this year’s Patriots squad, including junior Noah Lewis.

Lewis was a freshman then, but he used that experience two years ago in helping George Washington during Wednesday’s 62-42 Class AAAA quarterfinal victory against University at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.

Lewis started fast and ended strong. The 6-foot-7 forward was the lone double-figure scorer for GW with a game-high 24 points.

He pulled down 13 rebounds while blocking eight shots.

“Running out, there’s obviously nerves,” Lewis said. “I was pretty comfortable. My freshman year when we played here I was nervous as it could get, but, after the tip went up [today], it’s just basketball at the end of the day. I’m pretty sure all of our guys realized that pretty quick.

“Coach told us in the locker room before the game that the first team to start playing basketball is going to win the game.”

University knew how effective Lewis’ game was coming into the tournament.

The Hawks tried slowing down the Patriots forward by throwing multiple defenders to try and slow him down.

“We wanted to try and prevent him from getting the ball,” University coach Joe Schmidle said. “That’s the only way you’re going to stop him. We wanted to keep him off the glass and prevent him from getting second-chance points.”

University’s season comes to a close at 18-6 after shooting 37% from the floor and 20% from 3-point range with only making one triple.

Luke Bryer (14 points) and Glenn Brown (11 points) led the Hawks in scoring.

“I’d like to say how proud I am of these guys,” Schmidle said. “We didn’t play our best today, but we never gave up. Just kind of ran into a buzz saw there in the first half. Noah Lewis was too much, especially when Zach [Demidovich] got in foul trouble early.”

Lewis played a big factor in GW’s lead stretching out in the second quarter, turning a 15-10 lead through one frame into a 23-12 edge. Lewis netted six of the Patriots’ first eight points of the second.

“It gives you confidence,” Greene said on GW’s fast starts. “You see the ball going through and see them struggling a little bit defensively. We were good defensively [today]. Other kids hit shots. Noah had, obviously, a great game. That just builds everyone’s confidence. I was really proud of the kids and how they played together.”

GW continued stacking successful offensive trips down the floor. The Patriots outscored University 11-4 in the final 3:02 of the first half to take a 36-19 lead into halftime.

The only quarter University saw the most success in the scoring column came in the final quarter, with a 13-7 edge.

GW’s Chuck Kelley scored eight points in 18 minutes of play.

“I’m just trying to shoot the shots that are left,” Kelley said. “I like to play defense. I take pride in that. When you have guys like Noah and Gale [Lamb] that are going to draw multiple defenders at a time, it’s easy to get some easy buckets on the backdoors and stuff like that.”

George Washington will play Morgantown at 7:15 p.m. Friday in the semifinals for a spot in Saturday’s Class AAAA state title game at 5 p.m.

Greene likes the matchup because the Patriots are familiar with the Mohigans. GW played in Morgantown on March 7, with the Mohigans blowing past GW, 57-35.

“We like to play somebody the second time,” Greene said. “We went to Morgantown, and that was good for us. People wonder why we went up there and play. [It’s] because they’re the best. Coach [Dave] Tallman is one of the best. It toughened us up, even though they stuck us pretty good.”

GEORGE WASHINGTON 15 21 19 7 — 62: Lewis 24, Kelley 8, Harris 6, Lamb 6, Brown 6, Martin 5, Sprouse 4, Welch 2, Maddox 1.

UNIVERSITY 10 9 10 13 — 42: Bryer 14, Brown 11, Lewis 5, Demidovich 4, Adams 4, Karpinski 2, Byrer 2.