BECKLEY, W.Va. — On a night where senior phenom Jon Elmore poured in 34 points, freshman Anthony Dean sealed George Washington’s 63-59 overtime upset at Woodrow Wilson in Class AAA regional action.
Dean scored four points in the extra period and senior Cai Carena sank two two late free throws to put the game out of reach.
“(Dean) is just a great player, you wouldn’t even know he’s a freshman most of the time,” George Washington coach Rick Greene said. “He calmed down late in the game and made big plays for us.”
Dean finished with 12 points while Carena scored 11 for George Washington, which advanced to the Class AAA state tournament in Charleston next week as the No. 4 seed.
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Elmore chipped in with a little bit of everything in the extra session, coming up defensively and dishing the ball.
”Anytime I’m on the court, I try to do whatever it takes to win,” Elmore said. “I’m always keeping my head up looking for an opening, whether that’s scoring or hitting a guy for a lay-up.”
At the end of regulation with the game tied at 55 and 1:39 left, Beckley (20-5) held the ball out front and played for the final shot. With 10 seconds to go, Dante Nabors drove to the bucket and kicked the ball out to Jaylon Breckenridge for a corner 3 that hit off the back iron. The rebound was fumbled around until the buzzer went off.
“I wanted to get the last shot in regulation, he had a wide open look it just didn’t go in,” Woodrow Wilson coach Ron Kidd said. “We probably should’ve went to a set and gone to the glass with 10 to eight seconds left and got something a little better.”
The Patriots (19-6) converted just 4-of-7 foul shots late in overtime to keep the game interesting. With 10 seconds left, Breckenridge missed a driving layup that Carena corralled the rebound.
Woodrow Wilson was led by Nequan Carrington’s 16 points and Nabors’ 15. Chase Hancock, who had the duty of guarding Elmore most of the night, scored 11.
“Beckley’s athleticism is ridiculous. They have nine to 10 guys they can play and feel comfortable,” Elmore said. “We handled their pressure well tonight without turning the ball over and when they ran two guys at us, we had guys knocking down shot which helped.”