It has been a tough, adversity-filled senior year, Elijah Redfern never lost faith.
When his football season seemed in jeopardy after a heart incident caused him to lose consciousness at Bluefield on an unseasonably hot fall Saturday, Redfern bounced back.
When a broken hand in the second game of the season, the same game in which he surpassed 1,000 points, threatened basketball season, Redfern bounced back.
When his team needed him the came through the most, with 21 points and eight assists, as the Flying Eagles beat George Washington 61-59 to advance to the state tournament for the first time since Redfern’s freshman year.
The Flying Eagles had a 10-point lead going into the half but the Patriots systematically knocked down the lead until it was gone. But the end of the third the Patriots led 43-41. Just over a minute into the fourth it grew to 47-41.
“I gathered the team and I said ‘We’ve got an option,'” Redfern said, clutching the Class AAAA Region 3 championship trophy the Eagles hadn’t won since 2021. “‘Are we going to fold or are we going to fight?’ We choose to fight. After that timeout we came out and fought and we came away with a victory.”
Woodrow Wilson coach Ron Kidd said the Eagles being without Redfern for the eight games he missed with his hand injury paid off in that spot.
“I’m just going to say that goes back to when Elijah was out,” Kidd said. “Our other four guys knew that they could play, and they just kept playing. The good thing about when Elijah was out our other four guys got better and we knew how to handle it when they went down by six during that time.”
Indeed the younger guys stepped up.
Sophomore Zyon Hawthorne provided the go-ahead three with 1:20 left.
Before that, when the Flying Eagles were down six, fellow sophomore Coby Dillon rattled home a big three to jump-start the offense.
One key is Woodrow was 14 of 19 at the line, GW was 3 of 11.
The Patriots had four straight misses in the fourth at 3:59 after a 9-2 run erased that 47-41 Patriots lead. Dillon’s three started it and Redfern’s two free throws gave the Eagles the lead back 50-49. It would be tied at 52-52 and 54-54 and GW had the lead after a Chance Hartwell basket. But Hawthorne’s three gave Woodrow the lead and Redfern and Dillon made free throws to seal it.
Not even a three-quarter court chuck by Hartwell could rescue the Patriots.
Coach Rick Greene was asked about the difference between this game and past abilities to come in the Armory and knock off Woodrow (four times) in the past 13 years.
“Redfern was the difference,” Green said. “We just couldn’t do anything with him. He dumped off so we try to take that away and then he hits (shots). Even though we didn’t do some things well I thought Woodrow beat us. Down the stretch they made more good plays than we did.”
Woodrow Wilson was seeded No. 8 in the state tournament and will play Spring Mills Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.
“We struggled here the last couple years,” Redfern said. “It means a lot to the school, to the community. And it means a lot to me, being that I haven’t been there since my freshman year. We just hope to go down there, make some noise and come home victorious.”
In addition to Redfern’s 21, Jaylon Walton had 13 (and 11 rebounds) and Hawthorne added 12.
Sophomore Noah Lewis had 25 for the Patriots. Hartwell had 14 and Dawson Lunsford added 10.
Woodrow (15-9) has won five straight games heading to Charleston.
Woodrow Wilson 61, George Washington 59
Jackson Clark 0 0-0 0, Christian Goesel 0 0-0 0, Chance Hartwell 6 0-2 14, Noah Lewis 12 1-5 25, Dawson Lunsford 4 1-2 10, Brady Anderson 1 0-0 2, Chuck Kelley 0 0-0 0, Gale Lamb 3 1-2 8, TOTALS: 26 3-11 59.
Woodrow Wilson
Coby Dillon 3 2-2 9, Elijah Redfern 6 8-9 21, Zyon Hawthorne 5 0-0 12, Preston Clary 1 0-0 3, Nazir King 1 1-4 3, Drew Fitzwater 0 0-0 0, Jaylon Walton 5 3-4 13. TOTALS: 21 11-15 61
George Washington 10 9 24 16 – 59
Woodrow Wilson 11 18 12 20 – 61
Three-point field goal – GW: 4 (Hartwell 2, Lunsford 1, Lamb 1), WW: 5 (Dillon 1, Redfern 1, Hawthorne 2, Clary 1). Fouled out – None.
