By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
YEATESVILLE — The Pam Pack locked down third-place in the Washington Daily News/PotashCorp Aurora Holiday Tournament with a solid 71-54 win over East Carteret on Tuesday at Northside High School.
Thanks to a few Lindsey Harris threes, along with some big buckets by Taraja Langley and Ridge Hodges, Washington (6-6, Coastal Conference) jumped out to a 21-15 first-quarter lead.
Washington coach Joe Lawrence said getting off to a fast start is crucial to his team’s success.
“Taraja got us going defensively, and when Lindsey hit his first two or three shots that really got us going,” Pam Pack coach Joe Lawrence said. “We need to get a lead early, then that allows us to stay in it until the end. Hopefully as the season goes on our guys will learn that.”
Harris would go on to finish with a game-high 18 points, Langley tallied 16 while Hodges added nine.
“That’s the best basketball game we played this year in terms of execution and staying focused,” Lawrence said. “When we are shooting the ball well we can be tough to beat.”
East Carteret (3-5, Coastal Plains Conference) made a run at the Pack in the second and after a Cory Long layup the Mariners cut the deficit to 29-27. However, the team failed to score for the rest of the quarter.
“We played a very good Washington team, we were just a little undersized and out-manned,” East Carteret coach Billy Anderson said. “Our depth is not really what it should be, we were missing a player and we might have gotten a little tired at the end. But again, (Washington) had to play the same amount of games we did, so we really can’t make any excuses … That’s just a good team.”
Long led the Mariners with 17 points, while Mathew Collins added 15.
The Pam Pack will be back in action on at home on Jan. 4 against White Oak.
Washington 21 14 16 20 — 71
East Carteret 15 12 9 18 — 54
Pam Pack (71)
Lindsay Harris 18, Hodges 9, Taraja Langley 16, Horton 2, Brandon Tripp 10, O’Neal 2, Graham 3, Albritton 9, Conner 2.
Mariners (54)
Mathew Collins 15, Cory Long 17, Nelson 9, Lewis 3, Godette 4, Cahoon 3.