By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
With 3.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter Washington had one last shot to tie or top Williamston as it trailed 69-67.
Coming out of a timeout, the Pam Pack was able to inbound the ball and get it to Chris Albriton at the top of the key. With a defender in his face Albritton launched a long shot, but it would never reach its destination as the Tigers would hold on to win 69-67 on Tuesday.
Washington coach Joe Lawrence said the emphasis should not be on the final missed shot, but the several that preceded it.
“The first half is probably where we lost the game, we should have taken care of business early,” Lawrence said. “Our big guys are having trouble making layups … They are not going up there with authority. We missed a lot of shots that should have been made.”
Missed layups haunted the Pam Pack early, and missed free throws killed Washington late. The Pack got to the line several times in the final eight minutes, but rarely went two-for-two at the stripe.
The win for the Tigers was their first of the season, and the first for rookie head coach Bobby Williams.
Tuesday night was Williamston’s first game of the year and Williams said he liked the energy his team put forth.
“I’m very proud of the guys for staying with it. We got down early in the third quarter, but we kept talking about how positive attitudes and defensive intensity can make a difference,” Williams said. “I’m extremely proud of them, eight of these guys are fresh off of football and we have only had two team practices so far.”
The Tigers (1-0, Four Rivers Conference, 1-A) were led by Demante James’ 15 points, while Keon Coffield and K.J. Brown each added 13.
Washington (2-1, Coastal Conference 3-A) was guided by Taraja Langley who gave a good second-half effort en route to a game-high 20 points. Albritton added 11 for the Pack, while Lindsey Harris netted 10.
Tigers take down Pam Pack
The Washington girls team continued its slide as it lost its third game in a row on Tuesday, falling 66-43 to Williamston.
The Pam Pack trailed for the entire game, though it managed to cut the Tigers’ lead to two as late as the third quarter.
Once again turnovers and lack of rebounding took its toll on Washington (0-3, Coastal Conference, 3-A), severally hampering its offensive attack.
Pam Pack coach Allison Jones cited the team’s lack of intensity as a lingering issue.
“Overall, I think our lack of intensity eventually caught up to us,” Jones said. “We got killed on the boards, weakside rebounding was a problem … We have a lot of work to do.”
The Tigers (1-0, Four Rivers Conference, 1-A) were able to pull out a victory in its season opener despite playing most of the second quarter without star guard Katie Paschal who drew three quick fouls early. Foul trouble, along with a solid defensive effort by Beth Batchelor, kept Paschal from completely taking over the game as she finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
The win was first-year coach Hughes Barber’s first with Williamston, and after the game he said he was happy to see his team overcome a slow start and pull out win without relying solely on Paschal.
“We had some first game jitters, but we settled down in the second half,” Barber said. “(Paschal) had three fouls 10 seconds into the second quarter so I had to take her out until halftime. But this early in the year it’s good to give some of the other girls some game action and we had a lot of people step up.
Forward Cassie Harrell notched 12 points for Williamston, while Courtney Wynn added nine.
Washington point guard Hayley Stowe led all scorers with 17, while Batchelor chipped in nine.
Washington will be back in action on Friday when it plays at Northside, while the Tigers will host Bertie on Thursday.
Girls game
Williamston 11 13 18 24 — 66
Washington 9 9 10 15 — 43
Tigers (66)
Katie Paschal 16, Norfleet 6, Cassie Harrell 12, Little 2, Morris 6, Moore 7, Brown 1, Wynn 9, Davis 2, Slade 4.
Pam Pack (43)
Hayley Stowe 17, Batchelor 9, Williams 5, McIver 4, Hiatt 2, Cantrell 6, Rascoe 2.
Boys game
Williamston 14 18 19 18 — 69
Washington 7 23 23 14 — 67
Tigers (69)
Andrew 2, Keon Coffield 13, Speller 7, Demante James 15, Griffin 6, Brown 4, Moody 4, Bond 4, K.J. Brown 13.
Pam Pack (67)
Windley 2, Tripp 7, Graham 2, Taraja Langley 20, Lindsey Harris 10, Chance 2, Chris Albritton 11.