Washington wins first playoff game under Biggs
Published 10:55 pm Tuesday, February 20, 2018
- Tierra Wiggins soars for a layup in an early-season meeting with Farmville Central.
A game-winning shot by Tierra Wiggins propelled Washington over Jordan-Matthews for the first playoff win under head coach Ralph Biggs, 50-48.
The Lady Pack held a 48-45 lead when the Jets’ Avery Headen knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game up with 45 seconds.
After a few missed shots, offensive rebounds, and deflected passes, the next possession for the Lady Pack came down to 1.2 seconds with the ball on the baseline. Biggs called a timeout to draw up a play.
“I needed something to the basket, so I knew they’d play man to man. They had been playing it the whole game,” said the third-year leader of the Lady Pack. “So I just basically wanted all our girls to cut to the basket, and see who get the advantage.”
Briasia Somerville was the woman in charge of the critical inbound pass. As the play began, no one was open, but right before the five-second call, Somerville bent a bounce pass into Wiggins who cashed in a 17-foot jumper to win the game.
Wiggins had struggled with foul trouble in the second half, and watched most of it from the sideline. She finished with 11 points, but even on the bench she made presence known, both cheering and coaching from the sidelines.
“When we needed her, she came through,” Biggs said. “She’s a very aggressive basketball player, and she’s an aggressive leader for our team. When she play well, and she stay in it, the girls follow her, and she’s been a good leader for us all year.”
Wiggins’ only points of the second half came on the game winner, but her teammates Daria Jones, Kizoria Redmond, and Cantavia Blackledge picked up the slack.
Redmond scored nine of her 10 points in the second half. Jones was a huge piece at the center position in grabbing lots of rebounds and defending the paint well. She finished 11 points.
Blackledge’s layup put the Pam Pack up 46-45 with two minutes. She had five of her nine points in the second half.
Cierra Wiggins and Somerville finished with four points each, and Hailey Respess finished with one point.
The win for Biggs was three years coming. The team was 7-12 the year before Biggs took over. Since Biggs got there, the win total has climbed every year.
“We’ve been building,” said Biggs about his time with the program. “The first year, we didn’t make the playoffs. The second year, we made the playoffs and lost the first game. Then the third year, we made the playoffs and got a home game, and won it, so our progression is going, and that’s what I’m happy about.”
Washington will be moving on to face the No. 2 seed East Duplin.