GW's season halted with NW Region loss at Stafford

FREDERICKSBURG – The Stafford High School boys basketball team had heard all the accolades.

The Indians knew George Washington forward C.J. Barksdale has a full scholarship to Virginia Tech.

They knew the Eagles have at least three other players expected to play Division I basketball in the future.

And they knew the Eagles were the No. 1 ranked team in the state earlier this season.

None of that mattered.

Stafford senior forward Jamal Wilson took it Barksdale and the Eagles from the start and the Indians held on for a thrilling 72–66 home victory last night in the Northwest Region quarterfinals.

It’s the first regional playoff win for Stafford veteran head coach Steve Spicer in his 21 years at the helm.

The Indians (16–3) will host Gar-Field tomorrow with a berth in the Group AAA state tournament on the line.

“It feels good,” Wilson said. “I just wasn’t scared (of Barksdale). I heard about the hype, but I just played my regular game.”

Wilson, the Commonwealth District Player of the Year, finished with 25 points. Barksdale finished with five. He fouled out with 2:19 left in the game. He didn’t make his first field goal until there was 4:06 left in the contest.

“They got him in foul trouble,” Eagles head coach Bobby Martin said. “I could be negative and say other things, but that’s what happened. I don’t know how many minutes C.J. played, but he didn’t play many.”

Spicer reminded the Indians before the game that Wilson scored 30 points last year in a victory over Fauquier and current Georgetown player Jerrelle Benimon.

He also made them aware that Stafford held its own when it scrimmaged against Duke recruit Josh Hairston at Courtland in years past.

“We’ve played plenty of people who were going D-1, so it didn’t matter,” Stafford senior forward Dameon Turner said. “We were going to play him like any regular person, and that’s what we did.”

Still, last night’s game didn’t come without suspense.

The Indians built a 15-point fourth quarter lead before George Washington mounted a furious rally.

The Eagles trailed 64-56 with 58 seconds left after Wilson scored on a long inbound pass.

However, that’s when senior guard Greg Wimbush (team-high 20 points) drilled a 3-pointer as he was fouled by Stafford guard Davonte Harris.

Wimbush made the free throw and Stafford’s lead was cut to 64-60.

The Eagles pulled within 64-62 on a put-back by Kareem Patterson, but Turner made two free throws with 27 seconds left to give the Indians a four-point lead.

The Eagles cut their deficit to two twice more, but Stafford point guard Deion Smith was 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 20 seconds. The Indians were 8-for-8 overall in the final 27 seconds.

“I knew I had to make my free throws because we’ve got a goal,” Smith said. “We practice free throws for 20 to 30 minutes in practice. We can’t talk or do anything — just concentrate and knock ‘em down in case we’re in situations like this.”

Jerail Howerton added 18 points for the Eagles, whose season comes to an end.

GW 11 14 8 33-66
Stafford 14 11 17 30-72
George Washington (14–7): Darius Carter 5, Jerail Howerton 18, Greg Wimbush 20, Daniel Clark 8, C.J. Barksdale 5, Kareem Patterson 2, Paul Stone 6, Jerrod Williams 2. Totals: 22 19–33 66.
Stafford (16–3): Deion Smith 5, Gaither Mason 17, Jamal Wilson 25, Mitch Young 3, Davonte Harris 13, Dameon Turner 9, Jacolby Hawkins 0, Justin Navarro 0. Totals: 23 22–32 72.
Three-point goals: George Washington–Danville 3 (Howerton 2, Wimbush), Stafford 4 (Mason 4).