With an offense that doesn’t always function at a high level, the Washington boys basketball team’s defense must always be present and on Tuesday that was not the case as the Pam Pack fell 69-43 to Coastal Conference rival West Carteret.

Thanks to a big first half by Stevie Green, Washington (3-6, 2-3) was able to go into halftime trailing only 35-29. However, Green could not duplicate his 16 first-half points and the Pam Pack defense failed to copy its effort from the first two quarters as Washington was outscored 34-19.

“We are a team that has to win with defense, we’re not a high scoring team,” Washington coach Steve Flowers said. “In the second half the defensive effort wasn’t there and all game the shots weren’t there. We missed a lot of layups and we were 2-for-15 from thee-point range.”

Green would finish with a game-high 19 points, while Jimmy Williams was second on the Pack in scoring with seven.

The Patriots (7-6, 3-2) didn’t share the Pam Pack’s struggles as they racked up 69 points behind the effort of Eli Blake and Dontarius Abrams. Blake scored a team-high 16 points while Abrams was right behind him with 14.

Abrams made several key baskets for West Carteret and scored seven points in the third quarter to allow the Patriots to create major distance from the Pack and head into the fourth quarter up 51-34.

 

West Carteret 46, Washington 31

The defensive effort was there for Washington but the points were not, as the Pam Pack fell 46-31 to West Carteret on Tuesday.

Washington (1-8, 1-4) jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first quarter but the Patriots retaliated with an 18-4 run that spanned over two quarters to take an 18-16 lead with a little over three minutes left in the first half. It would be a lead West Carteret (7-4, 3-2) would not surrender for the remainder of the game.

The Pam Pack, which starts three freshmen, a junior and a senior, were able to pester the Patriots on the defensive end of the court but simply could not turn their steals into points.

“We just did not take advantage of all the opportunities that we were able to produce on defense,” Washington coach Allison Jones said.

The Pam Pack were led by freshman Sheema Blount who tallied 10 points while senior Rakira Ward scored eight.

All of Washington’s starters were able to produce points, but the Pam Pack got no offensive production from its bench.

West Carteret struck behind a balanced attack but was led by sharpshooter Maggie Sowell who scored a game-high 13 points. Sowell was on fire in the second half and hit two key back-to-back three-pointers midway through the third to keep the Pack at bay.

In JV action the Pam Pack girls were able to top the Patriots as Hannah Copeland scored 14 points, Taijae Latham added seven and Allison Brantley chipped in five. The win improves Washington’s record to a perfect 9-0 (5-0).

Washington will be back in action on Friday when it hosts South Central.

 

Girls game

West Carteret                      7        17     13     9       ‑        46

Washington                          14      7       6       4       ‑        31

 

Patriots (46)

Jenley 9, Gibbin 4, Pierce 7, Hameol 3, Maggie Sowell 13, Easter 7,

Pam Pack (31)

Walker 4, Midgette 6, Ward 8, Anglim 2, Sheema Blount 11.

 

Boys game

West Carteret                      17      18     16     18     ‑        69

Washington                          13      11     10     9       –        43

 

Patriots (69)

Buddy 5, Dontarius Abrams 14, Bruno 5, Ellingsworth 6, Cain 6, Eli Blake 16, James 2, Windley 2, Gillikin 3.

Pam Pack (43)

Stevie Green 19, Austin 2, Brunson 5, Moore 5, Williams 7, D. Moore 2, Hayer 2.