NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Lake Taylor has put teams on notice. That warning: beware of the post.
That's where the Titans keep their "twin towers," Elijah Washington and Rodney Baines.
"On defense, everybody closes in on me so everybody else is open," said Baines. "I get to kick it out and the guards get to knock down the shot and we score easily that way."
"You've got to take pride in doing what you do," added Washington. "I'm out there, I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, I'm taking pride in it and making sure I'm getting the job done for my team."
One might say the presence down low is among the best in the state with two 6'8" forwards who are ready to punish the opposition on both sides of the ball. They're Lake Taylor's dynamic duo in the paint and enjoy crashing the glass and working inside.
"It's unstoppable because either way, one of us is going to have a dominant night," said Washington. "Most of the time, we're both having a dominant night, so you can't really stop us."
"They've got to choose who to guard," Baines said of opponents. "They usually guard me and he's always open and able to score."
Washington and Baines have been teammates since middle school and have a knack for knowing the other's movements. That cohesiveness makes stopping the Titans all the more difficult for opponents.
"We've built up chemistry over the years," pointed out Washington, a Syracuse football commit. "We know what we expect of each other. We know what we're supposed to go out there and do. He knows what I expect of him and I know what he expects of me, so we just go out there, we put it together and get it done."
"I know when he's about to cut or I know when he's about to do something, so when I pass the ball he's already there and he scores easily," Baines noted.
Now both the seniors have the chance to cap off their high school careers in the best possible way. Lake Taylor faces Northside in the Class 3 state championship game Friday night in Richmond where the Titans will look for the program's first state title since 2018.
"It would mean a lot to have a banner on the wall," Baines said. "That's what we're trying to do so we can just come back to the school and just reminisce everything that we did and we don't want [any] regrets."
"This year it was the goal to make sure we get there, first of all," noted Washington. "Coach, every day, he tells us that teams are just in our way, so this team, they're in our way, so we've got to go through them."
Lake Taylor and Northside tip off at 8:00 PM Friday night at VCU's Siegel Center.
