KINGS, AGAIN: GW wins fifth straight Holiday Shootout crown

On one end of the hallway, the George Washington Eagles gathered around, championship trophy in hand, posing for photos. On the other end, in the locker room, the Dan River Wildcats were commenting on how that would probably be the hardest team they will play the entire season.

For the neighboring high schools, both teams can say that everything was left on the floor.

In a game that lived up to the hype of “the game of the year,” both Dan River and George Washington provided enough excitement that kept fans from both sides on their feet throughout the entire contest.

“Everybody got their money’s worth,” GW coach Bobby Martin said.

George Washington used an 11-1 run in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good and Dan River’s Terrence Womack missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left as the Eagles went on to win their fifth straight Register & Bee Holiday Shootout 62-59 on Monday night before a capacity crowd at Averett University’s Grant Center.

“I know that we lost the game, but it’s fun,” Dan River coach Jacob Gruse said. “I told Bobby after the game when we were shaking hands, I said, ‘Man, that’s a fun game for sure.’ It was exciting, it was up and down, and it lived up to all the build-up. I think it lived up to that hype for sure.”

C.J. Barksdale was named Shootout MVP after finishing the night with eight points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. The sophomore forward averaged 13.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in the tournament.

“It’s just good to keep the tradition going,” Barksdale said. “It felt like a state championship game. They brought their game, we brought our game.”
Joining Barksdale on the all-tournament team was Chris White, who carried the Eagles in the final frame, scoring nine points on three 3-pointers. White finished with a game-high 19 points.

GW hoisted the Register & Bee Shootout trophy for the 18th time in the 26-year history of the tourna-ment. It was the fourth time in Shootout history that GW beat Dan River for the title.

Darren White and Trey Edmunds of Dan River and Gorgi Branov of Liberty Christian round out the all-tournament team.

From the opening tip, the atmosphere was electric, as both teams traded punches throughout the 32 minutes. Dan River (9-1) led for most the contest, using a 12-0 run from the first to second quarters to take an 18-10 lead after Edmunds hit two free throws.

After GW (10-0) was able to close the gap to 22-20 following a Stephen Coles layup, the Wildcats went on an 8-0 run to take a 30-20 lead. However, four missed free throws by Womack and Edmunds allowed GW to keep the deficit at 10. The Eagles responded by closing the quarter on an 11-4 run to make it 34-31 Dan River at intermission.

“All I was trying to get our guys to do is settle down and just keep playing,” Martin said. “Settle down and keep playing. Basketball is a game of runs.”

White provided the spark off the bench for the Eagles, scoring 10 points in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer in the half-ending run.

Edmunds was attacking the basket at will, scoring 10 of his 11 points in the second quarter as the GW defense keyed on stopping Dan River’s Darren White. Martin at times had Coles guarding White, trying to put a bigger man on the 6-foot-4 swingman. White, who has committed to play at James Madison next year, finished with a team-high 12 points.

“I liked the atmosphere, even though I was playing terrible,” White said. “But the team played pretty well and in the fourth quarter, we lost our focus a little bit. It’s OK. We’re content with second place, I guess.”

It came down to free throw shooting in the final minute as Dan River was forced to foul to stop the clock. Greg Wimbush hit 3-of-6 at the line in the final 41 seconds, missing his last three and allowing Dan River a chance to tie the game.

“We got the shot we wanted at the end, put the ball in a shooter’s hands and he didn’t convert there,” Gruse said. “But give it to him again and he’ll knock it down, that’s for sure.”

Dan River essentially ruined its chances of winning in the second quarter, when the Wildcats shot 4-of-11 from the line. While the Wildcats kept it close, those missed opportunities, including going 13-for-26 in the game, came back to haunt them.

“I feel like we just deflated a little bit,” Gruse said. “We maybe ran out of juice, I don’t know.”

Despite those late misses, the Eagles hit 12-of-19 from the charity stripe and hit more 3-pointers in the contest.

“It was a hard game,” GW’s White said. “We underestimated them too and everybody been talking about GW, Dan River, Dan River better than GW, GW better than Dan River. And we just came out and had to play hard. We just had to do what we had to do.”

The victory was the first between the two in the championship game that was closer than 20 points. For the Eagles, it was just another win for the storied program in Danville.

“I keep telling them that coach (Harry) Johnson, coach (Chris) Carter, they left a legacy. ‘This is for you all to follow,’” Martin said. “I don’t even put my name in it, but they left a great legacy for us to follow and that’s what I want. If that’s not enough to motivate you…”