Two-sport star carries Titans
NORFOLK — Elijah Washington’s basketball days are winding down, and he knows it.
At the end of the season, the 6-foot-9 Lake Taylor forward will trade in his basketball shoes for football cleats in the fall when he heads to Syracuse on a football scholarship.
But before he does, he’s making sure he goes out with a bang.
Washington finished with 28 points and 19 rebounds Friday night to lead Lake Taylor to a 77-46 win over James Monroe of Fredericksburg in a Class 3 state semifinal at Norfolk State’s Echols Hall. The Titans will face Northside of Roanoke in next Friday’s state final at VCU’s Siegel Center at 8 p.m.
“I went to state my freshman year in football, but we lost,” said Washington, a tight end. “Everybody doesn’t get another shot at it twice or even get a shot at it once. So I have to make sure I get one.”
Washington got a challenge when Titans coach Derek “Yogi” Edwards told him that he disappeared in last season’s state quarterfinal loss.
“You know, I took that personal,” Washington said. “I made sure I had to come out here today and dominate. And that’s what I did.”
Did he ever. He had 19 points and 13 rebounds — including 10 on
the offensive end — in the first half.
His stats even shocked his coach.
“I looked at the stats and I said that’s remarkable,” Edwards said. “He dominated. He played like a man.”
The game was never close as the Titans jumped out to an 11-0 lead on James Monroe (24-5). They extended it to 49-21 at the half. By the fourth quarter, there was a running clock as Lake Taylor’s lead grew to more than 30.
Washington alone had just as many rebounds as the Yellow Jackets had as a team. And his first-half total for points was just two short of James Monroe’s total.
The Titans (25-1) also got help from Rodney Baines, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
But as Edwards said, none of this means anything if the Titans can’t bring home a state title.
“I told (Washington) that he’s too good of a player to leave Lake Taylor without a state championship,” said Edwards, who was an assistant coach on the Titans team that won a state title in 2018 and finished runner-up in 2016. “The kids worked so hard to get to this point. So I’m just excited for them. But we’re not done yet.”