Players like his brother, B.B. Washington, first-year varsity players Devin Rakestraw, David Cartwright, Makai Grant, and three-year starter Evan Dickey were just as important. Their contributions helped the unbeaten Eagles to hold off Division I Garfield Heights, 59-51, Saturday at Nationwide Arena in the Ohio Scholastic Play-by-Play Classic.
“This was a great challenge for us and we didn’t play perfect,” Eagles coach Charlie Szabo said. “So we’re going to learn from that, but we met the challenge and we played well enough to win so we’re very happy.”
Szabo says Washington has been the team’s best leader since he moved to Dayton earlier this year. When he wasn’t scoring in the second half, the Eagles maintained their lead.
“It was really big to see us have a game where there were ups and downs to it,” Washington said. “And we were really able to still stay together, not turn on each other and come out with a win.”
The first half was a big up as Washington scored 13 of his 20 points and the Eagles (8-0) built a 30-22 lead against Garfield and freshman phenom Marcus Johnson, who scored half of his 24 points.
The second half, however, presented challenges. Garfield focused its defense heavily on Washington. So in the third quarter, B.B. Washington, a junior, took advantage and scored 10 of his 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
B.B. Washington’s final play came when he rolled an ankle on a layup. That play put the Eagles up 44-33 late in the third, but it was his last of the game.
“I’m in the gym with him and around him 24/7, and I know how much work he puts into it,” George Washington said. “I know how much he loves it. So it’s great to see him hit his shots and do what I know he can do.”
As Garfield made mini-runs in the fourth, the Eagles held them off at the foul line by making 13 of 15. None were bigger than the four straight the 6-foot-6 Rakestraw made to push the lead to 52-42 at the 5:32 and 5:13 marks. He scored in all four quarters and finished with 12 points.
“I was trying to play my hardest, whether it was setting screens for George or getting rebounds,” Rakestraw said. “At the line, I always calm myself down, try to hit the shots and they went in today.”
Garfield did cut the Eagles’ lead to 53-51 with 2:05 left. But when a ball was knocked away from Dickey and out of bounds, Garfield coach Sonny Johnson argued against the call that gave the ball back to the Eagles. For his trouble, he got a technical foul and Washington made both free throws for a 55-51 lead with 1:23 left.
Cartwright and Grant, coming of the bench, were tasked with trying to contain Johnson, the 6-1 guard who is considered one of the best freshmen in the nation.
“I thought we made him work, but he’s just a very, very good player,” Szabo said. “He’s got a great feel for offensive basketball, where the seams are, how to set people up. He looks like a senior out there playing, not a freshman.”
Johnson will be one of the most highly recruited players in his class, and the questions about where he will play have begun.
“I like a lot of colleges right now: Ohio State, UCLA, Kentucky, Duke,” he said. “But I’m only a freshman right now, so I’ll figure it out.”
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