Kentrell Washington leads Western past Spring Valley

Kentrell Washington didn’t score in the third quarter Friday night. In fact, the Western sophomore took only one shot in the third period.

Maybe he was saving his best for the end of the game.

Washington scored 10 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Warriors held on to defeat visiting Spring Valley, 79-77.

“It seems to happen a lot in games. He steps up at the end,” first-year Western coach Chip Nelson said. “We just get him the ball. He takes over. He plays his game, and he starts going and attacking the basket a lot more often.”

Spring Valley led 67-63 entering the final quarter, but Washington scored the period’s first four points to tie the game. He had the tying points on two more occasions in the quarter as the Warriors (9-4, 4-1 Southwest League) refused to let Spring Valley (8-3, 3-2) pull ahead.

“I felt like I had to score to help my team win,” Washington said.

Washington’s older brother, Kenyon, scored on a baseline drive with 44 seconds left to put the Warriors up 78-76.

After a free throw by Spring Valley, Sir Washington, Kentrell and Kenyon’s cousin, hit a free throw with 13.8 seconds remaining for the final margin.

Spring Valley had a final shot, but Shannon Nolan missed a 3-pointer, and Western’s Joseph Gerideau chased down the rebound as time expired.

Kentrell Washington and Sir Washington combined for 15 points in the first quarter as the Warriors went up 22-11.

But Spring Valley stormed back, scoring 36 points in the second quarter. But after using an up-tempo attack to take the lead, the

Grizzlies pulled back on the reins in the fourth quarter, working the ball slowly around the perimeter against Western’s zone defense.

“It helped us get our wind back and finish out the game,” Kentrell Washington said.

Sir Washington finished with 18 points, Kenyon Washington had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Aaron Buckley scored 12 points for Western.

Trey Whitley led Spring Valley with 21 points.