The Washington Pam Pack shook off a rough first half that was littered with turnovers and turned in a 17-point victory over conference-rival Ayden-Grifton on Friday night in Washington, 67-50.

Pam Pack (7-4, 1-1 Eastern Carolina 2-A Conference) head coach David Allewalt was frustrated with the way his team played in the first half, but was pleased with the way they responded in the second.

“Any time you’re coming back from that Christmas break I think it’s sloppy basketball. … That being said, there’s really no excuse, I mean, effort is effort,” Allewalt said. “It’s a matter of how bad they want it. They did come out and play harder in the second half, but we still had 21 turnovers, 12 in the first quarter.”

It was a rough first 16 minutes for Washington. Their early turnovers led to the Chargers (4-7, 0-2) scoring in transition and even led for some of the first half.

 

Washington went on a 10-0 run in the beginning of the second quarter, sparked by a two-handed flush from Omarion Blount that shook the gym.

The Chargers answered with a run of their own before the halftime break, cutting their deficit to 25-23.

“We just played better team ball in the second half, got a lot better looks,” Blount said about the second half adjustments. “We just came out weak from our first game back from break. Coach told us we needed to play harder and play our game.”

In the second half, the Pam Pack were back to its old self, moving the ball, getting open looks and making the extra pass when necessary.

Rashod Smith scored 20+ points for the fifth consecutive game, dropping 25 with seven assists on Friday night against the Chargers.

Blount finished with 13, Messiah Ebron picked up seven, while Terry Moore, Kash Godley and Justin Powell each scored five. Powell collected 12 rebounds on the evening to lead the team.

The Pam Pack were a lethargic 3-for-13 from 3-point land, but Allewalt accredited the Chargers’ defense for giving the Pam Pack some problems early on with their zone scheme.

The Pam Pack will look to keep the same energy from the second half of their game on Friday night moving forward. They will host North Pitt on Tuesday evening, before traveling to Southwest Edgecombe on Wednesday afternoon for their second matchup of the season.