CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As veteran George Washington coach Rick Greene got a look at Washington late Thursday, one thing stuck above the rest.
“They looked like the fastest team we had seen all season,” Greene said.
Thus, when the two Patriots clashed Friday in a semifinal at the Charleston Coliseum, setting a half court defense became all that much more important for George Washington. Greene felt his team did that at a high level, which played a big part in holding Washington to 29 percent first-half shooting and less than 35 for the game as GW won 71-57 to claim a spot in Saturday’s state final.
WHS was limited to four fast break points.
“We were really worried about their transition,” Greene said. “We knew we had to get our defense set. Our kids did a fantastic job of getting back and getting our defense set.”
No. 1 GWHS (22-2) awaits the winner of Spring Mills-Morgantown in the title game.
MetroNews broadcast interview with GW’s Rick Greene following their 71-57 win over Washington in the Class AAAA semifinals: #wvprepbb pic.twitter.com/tQjd5PJMW5
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) March 20, 2026
Defense was imperative in the top seed building a 17-11 lead through 8 minutes as WHS (19-4) was held to 4 for 14 first-half shooting and turned it over four times, while 6-foot-6 senior Noah Lewis made three field goals to serve as the offensive catalyst with six points for Greene’s team.
Braydon Browning continued to provide a big lift off the bench for GW in the second quarter and made his second three on as many attempts in the matchup, while Lewis scored 10 points to give him 16 at halftime to go with eight rebounds.
“That’s a heck of a basketball team. They’re the 1 seed for a reason,” Washington coach Ryan Miller said of GW. “Enough has been said about Noah Lewis, but you can keep talking about him, because he is so special. We made him work for a lot of what he got.”
Although Miller’s team upped its offensive production by making 4-of-6 free throws in the second quarter, it went to halftime facing a 32-24 deficit and with one player with more than one field goal in guard Jasiah King, who was 2 for 5 with a pair of treys and seven points.
“We had our matchup and some zones in the back of our minds and we realized our man is getting the job done and let’s not overthink this,” Greene said. “Chuck and Matthew did a great job on the perimeter on the ball. If you get around any of those guys, you have to deal with Noah inside and that’s intimidating.
A third-quarter three from Dominic Sprouse upped the GW lead to 37-26, though WHS was back to within eight shortly after when Averie Brown scored off a second-chance opportunity.
GWHS followed with eight straight points to, for all intents and purposes, put the game out of reach.
Lewis made 3-of-4 free throws to start that spurt before Sprouse added two himself.
A conventional three-point play from Kaden Welch left GW with a 47-31 lead, and it grew to 53-32 entering the fourth as Greene’s team outscored Washington 14-1 over the final 4:08 of the fourth.
Washington continued to battle and drew to within 11 with just outside 2 minutes remaining when Ja’kel Watkins scored to make it 62-51, but GW maintained its separation by making 12-of-16 free throws in the final quarter and 25 of 33 for the game.
“You can’t control every shot that goes in,” Miller said. “We talk about controlling what’s controllable, which are energy and effort and that’s something that never wavered.”
One night after scoring 37 points in a one-point quarterfinal round win over Huntington, Lewis led all players with 32 points and 14 rebounds.
His effort helped key GW to a 39-26 rebounding advantage.
Chuck Kelley scored 14 on 4-for-4 shooting in the win and Sprouse added 10 with seven boards.
“All of their players are extremely bought in,” Miller said. “All of their players play their role and there are no egos. It’s a credit to coach Greene.”
King scored 16 points and Kris Doleman 12. Eight of Washington’s 17 field goals were threes.
GW will play in the title game a second straight season after finishing runner-up last year.
“It’s a new team. We have experience and know what it feels like to be in this game,” Lewis said. “It’s a great honor. We’re going to play our basketball. We’re not going to play any different because of the stage.”