You can call him Anthony or you can call him A.J., but just remember to call Anthony "A.J." Carter's name when it's time to win a spirited Metro basketball game.

Carter scored eight of his 16 points in overtime Friday night as Kennedy trimmed Washington, 58-54, in a tense Mississippi Valley Conference game at Washington.

Carter struggled during the first 32 minutes of the ballgame, but he was the difference in the extra four-minute period.

"When he came over in overtime, he had that look in his eye," said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen. "He said, 'I want the ball.'

"That told me that I had to draw up something to get him the ball in the lane. He wasn't shooting it well tonight, but a senior who has as much experience as him was able to adjust and finish it off in overtime for us."

Carter drove into the lane and scored to give the Cougars (4-1, 3-0) a 47-45 lead with the first points for either team in overtime. It stayed tight until the final seconds.

Jared Printy hit his fifth 3-pointer to pull Washington (1-4, 1-2) within 52-50 with 46 seconds remaining, but then Carter won the game for Kennedy at the foul line.

Carter's two free throws gave the Cougars a 54-50 lead with 36 seconds remaining, he hit two more for a 56-52 edge with 23 seconds remaining and he cashed two more with just three seconds left to finally seal the deal at 58-54.

Carter went 6-for-6 at the foul line in the final 36 seconds. By contrast, he was 3-for-6 at the foul line in regulation and did not shoot well from the field.

"My teammates were picking me up, telling me I needed to come around and they needed me to put in a few baskets," he said. "I hit one jump shot and I got confident after that."

McKowen has confidence in his senior point guard.

"That's why we were drawing the plays up for him, to get him the ball and get him to the foul line," the coach said. "A.J. is the guy. We want the ball in his hands."

Carter's confidence grew in overtime.

"I knew they were going to come out and pressure, and I thought I could beat my guy," he said. "Basically I got it done."

Kennedy grabbed an 11-point lead at 35-24 when Brandon Buck stole the ball and drove for a layup for the Cougars, but the Warriors battled back behind Maurice Arrington, a 6-foot-6 junior with smooth inside moves, and Printy, a 6-foot-3 sophomore with a soft touch from behind the 3-point line.

Arrington and Printy finished with 17 points apiece.

"Arrington and Jared had a really good night," said Washington Coach Adam Sanchez. "They're really good players. They're going to be a big part of what we do going forward."

Arrington made 8 of 11 shots around the basket, while Printy hit 5 of 10 from 3-point range.

Arrington scored three straight baskets - one of them a three-point play - to give the Warriors a 45-43 lead with 1:27 left in the fourth quarter. Carter scored for Kennedy with 1:05 left and the game went into overtime at 45-45.

Both clubs missed chances in the final seconds of regulation to win it.

Sanchez was proud of the way his club bounced back from the 11-point deficit.

"I think we did some really good stuff that we hadn't done before," he said. "We dug a hole, we got down, we dug back.

"Rather than folding in and giving in, we continued to battle and got back in the game. That's something we haven't done extremely well. I think we did a good job tonight."

It wasn't a pretty game at times, but both clubs dove after loose balls and fought to the end.

"Games are going to be emotional in these intracity games. It's not going to be pretty," said McKowen, the new coach at Kennedy. "It's going to be a battle, it's going to be a war. It's going to be a game of runs.

"They punched us in the face a couple of times and we never dropped our heads, so I knew we were going to have a chance."

Cole Murdock hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points for Kennedy. Zach Daniels scored nine points and Bryton Heisler had eight points, including two big baskets in overtime for the Cougars.

KENNEDY (58): Daniels 3 1-2 9, Carter 3 9-12 16, Bil 2 0-0 5, Bardsley 2 1-2 5, Murdock 4 0-0 11, Buck 1 0-0 2, Heisler 4 0-1 8, Holzer 0 0-0 0, Heitland 1 0-2 2. Totals 20 11-19 58.

WASHINGTON (54): Anderson 0 1-2 1, Nelson 1 0-0 2, Taylor 0 2-6 2, Snitker 0 2-2 2, J.Kramer 3 0-0 6, Arrington 8 1-1 17, Printy 5 2-2 17, Moore 3 1-5 7, Good-Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 9-18 54.

Halftime - Kennedy 29, Washington 24. Regulation - Kennedy 45, Washington 45. 3-point goals - Kennedy 7 (Murdock 3, Daniels 2, Carter 1, Bil 1), Washington 5 (Printy 5). Fouled out - Anderson.