No. 3 George Washington wins defensive semifinal over Musselman

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – No. 3 George Washington on Friday night defeated No. 7 Musselman 49-42 for a spot in the Class AAA boys basketball state championship game against Martinsburg.

The Patriots pulled away in the second half after the two teams were deadlocked 21-21 at the half in a defensive battle.

George Washington (22-3) took 19 more shots than Musselman, but shot just 33 percent in the win, holding the Applemen to 34 percent from the floor as well.

“I don’t think we took too many bad shots,” said George Washington coach Rick Greene. “They were open. We probably missed four or five layups in the first half. But that’s tournament basketball and that’s going to happen.

“You have to rely on your defense and your rebounding,” he continued. “I thought our kids were very good defensively.”

George Washington used a 12-4 advantage in the third quarter to take a 33-25 lead into the fourth.

GW outrebounded Musselman 45-37, forced 12 turnovers and only surrendered six turnovers itself.

“I think we’re doing everything pretty well, other than making shots,” Greene said. “If you’re making shots, it makes everything look good – I realize that. At least we’re doing the other things.

“We’re just not shooting the ball,” he continued. “But I think we’re really good shooters. We have one more shot at it to see if we can shoot the ball.”

Bunky Brown scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead George Washington, while Matthew Cook added 11 points and Justin Phillips finished with nine points.

Jake Stephens led Musselman (20-7) with 17 points and 18 rebounds in the loss.

The win for George Washington sets up a title matchup on Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. against No. 4 Martinsburg.

“They’re playing really well,” Greene said. “They took Woodrow and University out. It came true what we talked about.

“Almost any of the eight could be playing on Saturday – if we miss a couple of shots, Musselman could be playing on Saturday,” he continued. “Hopefully we’ll play better and play up to what we should when it’s a state championship game.”

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