CHARLESTON, W.Va. — George Washington struggled with turnovers over the first few minutes of Wednesday’s Class AAAA quarterfinal against University.
Once the No. 3 Patriots began to take care of the ball, they were off and running.
GW shot better than 68 percent in the opening half and 51 percent for the game, riding a 24-point and 13-rebound performance from Noah Lewis to down the Hawks 62-42 inside the Charleston Coliseum.
“I was pretty comfortable. My freshman year playing here I was as nervous as I can get,” Lewis said. “After the tip, it’s basketball at the end of the day. Coach told us before the game the first time to settle in and play basketball was going to win the game.”
The Patriots (20-4) consistently got the ball to Lewis, a 6-foot-7 junior that made the most of his touches inside.
Lewis and Saivyon Brown scored in the paint for the last four points of the opening quarter to turn a one-point Patriot lead into a 15-10 advantage.
GW, which made 7-of-11 shots in the first frame, had five of its 13 turnovers in that quarter as well.
The Patriots made the most of their possessions in the second period, which they concluded without a turnover, while making 8-of-11 field-goal attempts to take control of the matchup.
Lewis was the key component to the success in that frame, scoring 13 of his 19 first-half points in a stretch of less than 6 minutes.
“We’ll try to run a set where he’s the main option, but I’ve found out if you say get it to this one, then the other four stop playing,” GW head coach Rick Greene said. “He’s so good that he’ll get his touches. We’re aware of that obviously, so maybe we run a set where he’s the main emphasis.”
Lewis’ two free throws 43 seconds into the quarter began a 10-0 spurt that squarely turned the contest in the Patriots’ favor, leaving them with a 25-12 lead after it.
Lewis scored six of the 10 points, making a three-pointer and three free throws.
After a Chayce Adams basket allowed the No. 6 Hawks (18-6) to trail 28-17, Lewis scored four points during an 8-0 run in response, before Luke Byrer’s jumper cut the UHS halftime deficit to 36-19.
“They’re very disciplined. The kids on that team understand their roles really well,” UHS head coach Joe Schmidle said of GW. “Noah is their No. 1 option and who they’re trying to get the basketball to. He doesn’t force things and lets the game come to him. He can shoot the rock from three, take it to the hole and has a good midrange. He’s a complete player. We knew [Gale] Lamb was real talented and it was a little break for us when he got in foul trouble, but they leaned on Noah a lot more. Other than him, we did a good job controlling them, but we didn’t have an answer for him.”
The Patriots picked up where they left off to start the second half, with guard Jeff Harris accounting for the first two field goals to increase his team’s lead to 21.
A triple from Lewis 1:03 into the third quarter made it 43-21, and the Patriots were well on their way to securing a spot in a state semifinal.
“It’s an honor to be here. Your legs are going to feel like jelly, your head is going to be rushing, but embrace it,” Greene said. “The first team that can settle down and play basketball has a huge advantage.”
GW made 8-of-15 field-goal attempts in the third, allowing Greene’s team to enter the fourth with a field-goal percentage of 62 percent (23 for 37).
“They had a great game plan and deserved to win the game,” Schmidle said. “We didn’t play our best today, but we never gave up. We ran into a buzzsaw in the first half.”
Lewis made 9-of-13 shots and added eight blocked shots in the win, capitalizing on early foul trouble to Hawks’ post presence Zach Demidovich throughout.
“The first 4 minutes, we were excited. The lights were very bright,” Lewis said. “Then we started to burst and played really well in the second quarter, too. Coming out of halftime, we were settled in. Getting three stops right out of halftime really helped us.”
Chuck Kelley was GW’s second-leading scorer with eight points on 4-for-4 shooting.
“I try to shoot the shots that are left. I’m in the starting lineup mainly as a defender and I take pride in that role,” Kelley said. “People like Noah and gale draw multiple defenders at a time and it can be easy to get easier backdoor buckets and stuff like that.”
Harris, Brown and Lamb scored six apiece in the win.
Byrer led University with 14 points and made 6-of-9 shots. The remainder of the team shot 11 for 37.
“Defensively, we were excellent and we’ve been pretty good defensively all year,” Greene said. “We had a little extra juice. When we can defend like that and hit shots, we have a complete game.”