Playing in his final home game at Washington High School, senior captain Tyvon Copeland refused to walk away without a win as he poured in a season-high 27 points and came one rebound short of a double-double to lead the Pam Pack to a 70-62 victory on Friday.
Before the game, the Pam Pack honored seniors James Austin, D.J Bell, Stephon Moore, John Tate and Copeland. During the game, each one made major contributions.
“It was Senior Night and every single senior stepped up. Every single one of them,” Washington coach Steve Flowers said. “They played the bulk of the minutes tonight and every single one of them contributed something big for us.
“Bell’s been with me since I’ve been here. He’s played three years of varsity and he’s been my on court leader for the past few years. Tyvon played last year and has given us offense and a lot of rebounding. John Tate really stepped up tonight and so did James Austin.”
Bell dished out six assists, while Tate scored six points, Moore tallied eight and Austin finished with two.
Copeland was deadly from beyond the arc and got Washington off to a hot start as he poured in 11 first-quarter points as the Pack took an 18-15 lead after eight minutes.
“In practice he’s a three-point shooter, he can hit them. In games he hasn’t really been hitting them but he hit them tonight,” Flowers said. “I told him, “It’s Senior Night. How you go out tonight is how you’re going to be remembered.’”
The memories will be fond ones as Copeland continued to hit big buckets, while junior G/F Stevie Green did his best to keep pace pouring in 19 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
“Stevie gives us a double-double nearly every night. He just plays hard,” Flowers said.
After three quarters of play the Pam Pack accumulated a 12-point lead as its aggressive defense gave it a 52-40 advantage.
“I think we played better defense than what we’ve been playing,” Flowers said. “When we defend without fouling we do pretty good.”
As the fourth quarter got underway the Pam Pack put it in cruise control only to be rudely awakened by a Patriots team that did not want to roll over.
West Carteret started sniping from outside and was able get as close as 68-62 with :30 to go.
“We went into a zone and they started hitting a couple of threes on us,” Flowers said. “So we had to get out of that zone. We picked it up at the end and hit some free throws when we had to.”
The win gives Washington a 3-9 Coastal Conference record and should serve a confidence booster as the team prepares for the conference tournament on Monday.

West Carteret    15    14    11    22    —    62
Washington    18    20    14    18    —    70

Patriots (62)
No. 2 10, No. 3 12, No. 4 4, No. 21 14, No. 22 8, No. 32 16.
Pam Pack (70)
Austin 2, Moore 8, Tyvon Copeland 27, Burke 5, Stevie Green 19, Tate 6.