Last season, Washington’s promising season fell apart after the Christmas sabbatical. The Lady Pack seemed like a team capable of competing for the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference championship, but finished with only two wins in the league.

The lesson was learned, and the girls have risen to the occasion. They’ve split their four games thus far in the New Year. The losses have come against a Kinston club undefeated in the 2-A Eastern Carolina Conference and to a South Lenoir squad also competing for a top-two spot.

“I think I had to learn as a coach to turn it up a little bit in the second half of the season and push them a little harder,” head coach Ralph Biggs said. “I’m not letting them rely on what they did well. They’ve got to learn something else for the next part of the season and be better. The other teams will be better.”

Chemistry is one of the aspects of this Lady Pack team that has developed most in the last year. Cierra and Tierra Wiggins always seem to know where the other is. Daria Jones is among the savviest players in the entire conference. Kizoria Redmond and Cyntavea Blackledge have continuously emerged as offensive presences, and Hailey Respass has become a leader on the floor.

They’ve all grown more accustomed to playing aside one another, which is evident in the consistency Washington has shown up to this point.

“One of the key things is making sure everyone is ready,” Biggs explained. “Let them know that, at any time, you can go in the game. It’s not going to be, ‘Oh, she can play, so I’m not going to worry about it.’ Your number may be called two minutes into the game or with two minutes left in the game.”

Part of that, Biggs said, is tied to keeping practices competitive. In the first half of the season, and especially around Christmas tournament time, Washington got the chance to give younger players more minutes. Of course, that was a result of a few key players being sick at the time.

Washington, with two losses in ECC play, has the edge on the three-loss Lady Blue Devils. The Lady Pack faces some stiff competition as it comes down the stretch. Three of its last five games will be on the road, including a game at Kinston.

“You’re going to have to play a consistent, 32-minute game because that’s what Kinston does,” Biggs said of what he noticed about the frontrunner Lady Vikings. “From the first minute to the last minute, they put in the same effort no matter the score. I want our team to play like that.”

After Kinston, Biggs said that he’s got his eye on North and South Lenoir as other teams competing for the same second-place spot Washington is vying for.

“They play disciplined, strong basketball. They’re going to make you earn your win,” he said. “Those are the two teams that we’re going to fight and we’re going to measure ourselves against them.”

As it stands now, Biggs said he hasn’t heard of plans to cancel the ECC tournament due to the time lost from winter weather. He’s preparing both the boys’ and girls’ teams as if it’s on.