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The Washington High School girls and boys basketball teams head into the holiday break with conference victories and the confidence that more will follow in 2022.

The boys are 4-3 after a 64-55 home victory over West Craven in the Eastern Plains Conference opener Friday night.

All but one game the rest of the way will be against league opponents after a difficult non-conference slate to begin the season.

When play resumes in early January, the Pack will have to replace starting guard Terry Moore, who graduated early to begin his college academic and football career at Duke University.

“He was an outstanding player for us and we will obviously miss him,” coach David Allewalt said. “As much as we will miss his ability, we will miss his leadership. He left his mark on our program as a mentor and hopefully, our younger guys will continue to execute what he taught them.”

Washington has non-conference victories over Living Well Christian, Croatan and East Carteret, with losses at First Flight, South Central and

Hertford County, teams with a combined 15-5 record.

“I’ll put our pre-conference schedule up there with anybody’s,” Allewalt said. “It’s strong enough that we are still among the top 2A teams in East in the MaxPreps rankings despite having three losses. It’s set us up well for our conference season.”

That slate starts with a home game against perennial power and two-time defending state champion Farmville Central Jan. 4 at home, followed by a trip to undefeated Greene Central (8-0) two days later.

“We’re fortunate to have them at home first,” Allewalt said. “We’ve played and scrimmaged them in the past, so we know they want to get out and run from the opening tip. We certainly need to be at the top of our game to have a chance, but I’m excited for the challenge. We have guards who can shoot and handle and big guys who can score and rebound. Greene Central will be tough also, but I like my team. We are young, but games like these will help us grow up in a hurry.

The Washington girls raised their record to 2-5 with a 62-58 victory over West Craven Friday. The Pack snapped a three-game losing streak with a fourth-quarter comeback in a game that was close all the way.

“We’ve talked all season about not giving up and playing hard until the final buzzer,” first-year coach Will Tyson said. “We did exactly that against West Craven and it should give us confidence the rest of the way.”

WHS used a full-court press to force several fourth quarter turnovers and sophomore Hayley Whitley hit six free throws to bring the Pack back.

“She has been playing very well lately as has Kaitlin White” (who scored a season-high 20 points in the win), Tyson said. “We’ve made huge strides since practice started and everyone’s attitude has been great. We are getting to know each other better and the girls are starting to buy into what I want them to do.”

Senior Marchina Warren returned to the lineup Friday after missing five games with a knee injury. The point guard badly bruised her knee when she hit the floor after a foul in the season-opener.

The girls will also face Farmville Central and Greene Central after the holiday break.