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La Salle clinches state berth with win over Washington

It was about this time a year ago when La Salle began its improbable run in the PIAA Class AAAA state playoffs. Last season's runner-up finish started with a victory at Southern.

It was about this time a year ago when La Salle began its improbable run in the PIAA Class AAAA state playoffs. Last season's runner-up finish started with a victory at Southern.

This year, the Explorers hope their triumph Thursday night at the same locale is the start of something special again.

Behind stingy defense and offensive efficiency, La Salle overwhelmed George Washington, 73-44, in a District 12 seeding game to earn the third and final seed in the AAAA state playoffs.

"We were definitely a little worried coming in, just because there's a lot of pressure on us," senior forward Dave Krmpotich said. "We made a deep run in states last year, and if we didn't even make it this year it would've been a knock on us. But we just tried to get out there, play our game, and we weren't going to let this be our last high school basketball game."

The 6-foot-7 Krmpotich scored a game-high 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots.

Spurred by the win-or-go-home stakes, La Salle's core group of seniors took center stage.

Shawn Witherspoon scored 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished four assists. Najee Walls added 15 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and four assists.

Along with Dan Corr, Krmpotich feels this group has the leadership to make another run.

"We still have me, Shawn, Najee and Dan Corr," he said. "Last year, we definitely had some leaders that helped us make that run. We don't have those particular leaders now, but we still have a really solid group that can take us really far."

It's that team-first mentality that makes La Salle (19-6) go. Through excellent team defense, the Explorers forced Washington into 18 turnovers. Offensively, they finished with 17 assists on 27 made field goals. They also outrebounded the Eagles, 43-28.

"When we have all three parts of the offense clicking: getting into the lane, making shots and scoring down low, that's definitely what drove us last year," Krmpotich said. "I just think it's about our soul. I don't think we're going to go out that easily. You'll have to play pretty well to beat us."

Quadere Allen led Washington (19-7) with 12 points and Asante Ali added 10.

La Salle hopes to recapture last season's magic when the state playoffs open next week.

"Last year, it was just we had nothing to lose," Krmpotich said. "Nobody was expecting us to win. We graduated seven seniors the year before. We just went out and did our thing."

From nothing to lose to everything to lose, Krmpotich wouldn't have it any other way.

"We don't want to go out, or at least I don't want to go out without giving it my all," he said. "It's really motivating because we have a senior-driven team with nine seniors. We're just looking to prolong this as long as we can."

Washington 17 10 10 7 - 44

La Salle 16 18 21 18 - 73

W: Nasir Kelly 2, Elmange Watson 9, Asante Ali 10, Charles Brown 6, Quadere Allen 12, Aaron Curry 5.

LS: Shawn Witherspoon 17, Najee Walls 15, Dan Corr 6, Shane Stark 2, Jarrod Stukes 2, Dave Krmpotich 21, Matt Dessner 2, Ryan McTamney 6, Matt Paulus 2.