CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — No. 1 Washington made history on Friday night, winning the school’s first ever boys basketball sectional title with a 76-45 win over rival Hedgesville 76-45.
With the Patriots (23-0) clinging to an 18-16 lead midway through the second quarter, senior guard Dominique Newman took the game over, leading Washington on a 22-7 run into the break.
“I’m not surprised – in big games, he steps up. He will make big plays, that’s his nature,” Washington coach Don Bullett said. “He’s going to take the big shots and do what he has to do defensively, I thought he had some big steals tonight.”
Newman finished with a game-high 24 points and Jerome Jones added 17 points as Washington controlled the boards all night. The Patriots didn’t let the Eagles back in the game in the second half as they converted on 27 of their 32 free throw attempts.
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Hedgesville, meanwhile, was led by Daniel Delaware who had nine points – Theo Carter added eight points for the Eagles.
Like all rivalries, there was a lot of physical play and hard fouls. In the start of the fourth quarter, Eagles’ forward Eli Gates grabbed a rebound and cleared space with his elbow, striking Maleke Jones in the face. A scuffle broke out after, with Gates receiving a technical, along with his teammate Calvin Burks. Newman calmly stepped up after the mayhem and knocked down all four free throws.
“I thought our guys did a pretty good job under the circumstances, I mean the kid lays Dominique out and you know you’re touching teammates and you’re going to respond,” Bullett said. “That’s why I tried to get out there as fast as soon as possible to get my kids away.”
Washington advances to host the Class AAA, Region 2 game on Tuesday night against Elkins, while Hedgesville will have to travel to Lewis County to play for the right to go to Charleston.