George Washington’s Dominic Sprouse (left) defends against Parkersburg’s Quinten Wilson during their Class AAAA South Region co-final on Wednesday at George Washington High School in Charleston. (Photo by Rick Ryan/For the Gazette-Mail)

CHARLESTON — If Noah Lewis wanted to go out with a bang in his last home game, consider it done. Well done.

George Washington’s 6-foot-7 senior erupted for 39 points, 10 rebounds and three slam dunks Wednesday evening to lead the Patriots toward a 77-45 conquest of Parkersburg in a Class AAAA South Region co-final at GW High School.

The victory sends GW (20-2) into next week’s state tournament as the No. 1 seed, earning a date with No. 8 seed Huntington at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 19 at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center. It’s the ninth trip to the big show for the Patriots in the last 10 years.

Lewis, who also had three steals, made 18 of 24 shots and was actually outscoring the Big Reds by himself 39-37 when coach Rick Greene pulled most of his starters with 6:34 remaining in the game. GW led at the time 65-37.

“He’s just a great kid,” Greene said. “If he didn’t want to play basketball, he’d be an Eagle scout. Noah, I think, is the best player in the state. He’s awesome. But our other seniors do so much, too, to make us a team. It’s been one of the best groups we’ve ever had here. All they want to do is win.”

Parkersburg (7-17) trailed after one quarter just 17-14, but some live-ball turnovers and Lewis’ presence under the basket spelled eventual doom.

“You can’t teach height,” said Parkersburg coach Phil Wilson. “It’s something we just don’t have. He’s a big boy, strong boy. It didn’t matter what we did.

“We double-teamed him and he’d step through it. We tried to box him out and he’d run right over top of us. We tried to do the best we could with him with the size that we have, but he’s just a good ballplayer.”

Led by Lewis’ 10 rebounds and nine more from Chuck Kelley, George Washington held a whopping 36-15 advantage off the boards. The Big Reds also committed 15 turnovers; the Patriots also had only four when the starters left the floor in the fourth quarter, and wound up with 10.

“Turnovers didn’t help,” Wilson said. “We got ourselves in it, but at a certain point, either you go or you don’t go. You can maintain and lose by 16, or you can go and lose by 30, but you have to see if you can cut into that 16.”

Dominic Sprouse added 14 points for GW, which shot 54% from the floor (33 of 61).

It’s been a stellar season so far for the Patriots – 20 wins, seven against state-ranked teams, 16 victories by 16-plus points, another Mountain State Athletic Conference title and the No. 1 seed in AAAA. But they hope that’s just an appetizer for what’s to come next week at the state tournament.

“You have to appreciate it,” Lewis said of this season’s accomplishments. “It’s not every day you have a 20-win team, win the MSAC, win the region, and it takes a special group to do that. So you have to enjoy it. But obviously we didn’t come this far just to win the regional.

“We have a goal, and it’s been our goal since we stepped into the gym. And we have to get better every day if we want to achieve that goal. I’ve wanted to hoist that

[championship] trophy. Only four teams have done it in [GW’s] history; it’s a pretty rare feat. It’s going to take everybody and it’s going to take everything – and a little bit of luck even.”

Greene said despite all the accolades, he doesn’t think his team faces any pressure next week.

“No,” he said. “We’ve thought that all year, I think. Everybody had us in the championship game … so we’re used to it. And I think different teams could be [the top seed] – Spring Mills, Morgantown, Washington, [Parkersburg] South and other people have got really good teams.

“So it’s not like we’re No. 1 and everybody is five levels below us. But it is a moniker you have. But we’re fine. We’ll embrace that and go.”

Parkersburg was led by 23 points and five rebounds from Chandler Jackson. No other Big Red scored more than six points.