CHARLES TOWN, W.Va — 2012-2013 was a breakthrough season for Washington as the Patriots made it to the state tournament in Charleston. The Patriots beat Parkersburg South in the quarterfinals and bowed out admirably in the semifinals to the eventual state champs and eastern panhandle rival, Martinsburg.
“It gave us a lot of confidence, you never know how your team is going to respond in their first appearance in the state tournament,” Washington head coach Don Bullet said. “We felt like our kids did a nice job in getting their feet wet against a tough Parkersburg South team and getting that ‘W’ in Charlseton was big for our program.”
This season, Washington (5-0) returns with championship aspirations as all five starters back.
“We got Kendal Smith back, who did a real nice job for us as a rebounder and he can score under the basket, our leading scorer (Dominique) Newman has a lot of speed and quickness, Keldon Bell did an excellent job for us, the Jones twins are back for us,” Bullet noted. “We added an addition from Jefferson, their best point guard Dudley who plays the point.”
“We feel really good about our depth as well, we have some JV guys from last year who will be able to help us as well,” Bullet said.
And overall, the Washington basketball program is still young (in its sixth season) — Bullett has been there for it all, watching his team earn number one rankings heading into this season.
“Our kids put in a lot of hard work in the offseason, in the weight room and in team camps,” Bullet said. “That made a big difference in what we’re trying to get our kids to understand that if we’re going to compete with the Martinsburg’s and Hedgesville’s, there’s a lot of time that has to be put in in the offseason.”
“We’re expecting great things out of the eastern panhandle, you have to get past Hedgesville and of course Martinsburg who just reloads every year,” Bullet said.
Washington has held serve with the preseason ranking as they have reeled off five straight victories against out of state teams to start off the year. They will open the new year with a home tilt against the defending state champions, Martinsburg who will test how much progress they have made.
WASHINGTON 2013-2014 Boys Basketball Schedule |
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1 | 12/12/13 07:00PM | A | OAKDALE, MD HS | 69 | – | 66 | W | |
2 | 12/19/13 07:30PM | H | JAMES WOOD,VA H.S. | 94 | – | 40 | W | |
3 | 12/20/13 07:30PM | H | ST. ALBANS DC H.S. | 89 | – | 55 | W | |
4 | 12/23/13 07:00PM | H | S. HAGERSTOWN, MD H.S. | 100 | – | 40 | W | |
5 | 12/28/13 06:00PM | A | OCTORORA/MISLIN CO. , PA | 91 | – | 65 | W | |
6 | 12/30/13 07:30PM | A | MILLBROOK, VA H.S. | – | ||||
7 | 01/03/14 07:30PM | H | MARTINSBURG | – | ||||
8 | 01/07/14 07:30PM | H | SHENANADOAH VALLEY CHRISTIAN, VA | – | ||||
9 | 01/10/14 07:30PM | H | MUSSELMAN | – | ||||
10 | 01/11/14 05:00PM | H | SHERANDO, VA H.S. | – | ||||
11 | 01/14/14 07:30PM | H | MILLBROOK, VA H.S. | – | ||||
12 | 01/17/14 07:30PM | A | HEDGESVILLE | – | ||||
13 | 01/20/14 07:30PM | H | TUSCARORA, MD H.S. | – | ||||
14 | 01/21/14 07:30PM | A | SPRING MILLS | – | ||||
15 | 01/24/14 07:00PM | A | JEFFERSON | – | ||||
16 | 01/31/14 07:30PM | A | MUSSELMAN | – | ||||
17 | 02/07/14 07:30PM | H | SPRING MILLS | – | ||||
18 | 02/10/14 07:30PM | A | SHERANDO, VA H.S. | – | ||||
19 | 02/13/14 07:30PM | H | OAKDALE, MD HS | – | ||||
20 | 02/14/14 07:30PM | H | JEFFERSON | – | ||||
21 | 02/18/14 07:30PM | H | HEDGESVILLE | – | ||||
22 | 02/21/14 07:30PM | A | MARTINSBURG | – | ||||
wins: 5 lost: 0 ties: 0 |