Taller Wash High wins board game
Mark Marietta
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Repporter
Washington’s Tayshawn Levy (4) splits Brentwood defenders Forrest Betz (20) and Tavian Miller (33) for two points to solidify the Prexies’ lead in the third quarter Friday night.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Washington’s Tayshawn Levy floats over Brentwood’s Lamarr Williams.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Taviaire Vereen looks for room to drive under Brentwood’s Lamarr Williams in the Prexies’ section contest Friday night.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Washiongton's Brayce Patterson emerges from the crowd under the basket to launch a shot in the Prexies' win over Brentwood.
Mark Marietta
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Wash High’s Mario Griffin breaks past Brentwood’s Nathan Ziegler, drving the length of the floor and scoring on a layup.
Defense and rebounding can overcome many offensive shortcomings on the basketball court.
Nowhere was that more evident Friday night than at historic Wash High gymnasium as the host Washington Prexies extended their winning streak to 11 with a solid 63-48 win over Class 3A Section 4 foe Brentwood.
“I’d give us an A for effort tonight, but I think maybe a D in terms of execution, especially towards the end,” Prexies coach Ron Faust noted.
Washington swept the regular season series with the Spartans as they also defeated Brentwood 77-62 earlier this month on the Spartans’ home floor.
Tayshawn Levy led all scorers with a brilliant 32-point, 15-rebound performance. The Prexies outrebounded the Spartans 40-20, with a good many of those boards coming on the offensive end.
For much of the evening, it seemed as if the taller, more athletic Prexies were eager to play volleyball on the offensive glass as they earned several second and third chances at buckets while holding Brentwood to mostly one-and-done opportunities on the other end.
“That’s one of the things we really can hang our hat on is how we get after it on the glass,” Faust said afterwards. “I’d say that is probably one of our greater strengths is rebounding.”
Washington broke open the game in the second quarter by holding the Spartans to zero baskets as their hounding multiple-look defense held Brentwood to 0-for-11 shooting from the field in the decisive frame.
Overall, Washington limited a normally solid-shooting Brentwood squad to eight field goals over the final three quarters as the majority of the Spartans’ points came from the foul line.
Washington’s front line of Brandon Patterson, Carlos Harper and bench player Brayce Patterson also played a role in altering and blocking Spartans interior shot attempts throughout the evening
“We needed to move our feet better in the second half,” Faust added in reference to allowing Brentwood seemingly unfettered access to the charity stripe. “But overall we played well on the defensive end.”
A Mario Griffin three-pointer kickstarted Washington on their first possession of the second quarter as the Prexies ballooned a 16-13 first-quarter lead into a 36-19 lead at the half.
Levy’s 10 points in the third helped Washington extend his end of the third-quarter lead to 48-30 as the hosts cruised home from there.
“We’e like for him to finish every time at the basket, as he is aggressive going to the hole,” Faust said. “So free throw shooting is going to be important for him and us as we get into the playoffs. He does play very hard.”
Though it appears the Prexies have a firm grip on the sectional lead, Faust said he does not want his players to get too comfortable as the regular season heads towards the stretch.
“We have four section games to go, I believe, we’re up by two, we’d make it a whole lot easier if we’d just win all of them,” Faust added. “Brownsville is still sitting right there and we still have to play Charleroi twice as they are a very good team too.”
Carter Betz paced Brentwood with 19 points.