Raiders basketball young, full of hope

Published 12:52 am Tuesday, December 10, 2024

By Jason O. Boyd

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BELHAVEN, N.C. — A night of basketball against Parrott Academy was a good example of how the young season has gone so far for the Pungo Christian Academy varsity basketball teams.

Pungo’s girls welcomed back senior center Allison Sawyer, who had been recovering after tearing both of her ACLs, and picked up their second win of the season, 45-43 over the Patriots. Pungo’s boys struggled against Parrott’s pressure defense and dropped a 60-36 decision.

Both Pungo teams have had active schedules early in the season. Pungo’s boys won three of their first four but have had some struggles since, dropping to 4-6 after a loss to Parrott and a loss last Saturday to Southampton, Va., in the Doug Cobbs Scholarship Invitational Tournament.

“I mean, when you get behind the eight ball like that, two minutes into the game, it kind of makes it tough for the rest of the way,” Pungo boys coach Logan Van Staalduinen said of his team’s play. “And then they just kind of fed off of those turnovers quick. So that was, yeah, that was a tough, tough go for us to have on that.

Meanwhile, Sawyer’s return comes just as the Raiders were at Northeast Academy on Tuesday and home against Lawrence Academy on Friday to start Tarheel Independent Conference play. Sawyer’s presence was felt quickly as she scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half as Pungo rallied after falling behind 9-0 early in the game.

“The girls as a team have been playing better the last few games, and so Allison is just another piece of that puzzle, and we’re going to keep improving,” Pungo coach Kelly Rouse said. “So the more we can use her on the offense when the other team has to guard her, it opens up for Lily (Keech) and for Julia (Rouse), and so we’re just trying to see the whole team and use everybody’s strengths.”

Pungo’s girls took the lead for the first time at 26-24 following a long jumper by Keech (11 points) with 2:47 left in the third quarter. Pungo and Parrott exchanged the lead before Sawyer and fellow senior Julia Rouse (12 points) came alive. Sawyer hit three baskets and was 2-for-3 from the free-throw line in the final 4:58. Keech and Rouse combined for 11 points as the Raiders pulled away down the stretch, then held on as Parrott hit two 3-pointers in the final 1:44.

“So two things, we’ve slowly been getting better and working on things in practice, and I think that first quarter was just an example of it was the first game back with Allison, and a lot of the girls had not played offense with her,” Rouse said. “So we were trying to figure that out on the court, and so once they figured it out, then we were able to use her, and all of the girls really hustled.

“They picked up their intensity and were able to come back and hold them off at the end.”

Parrott’s boys used a pressure defense that frustrated Pungo throughout the game. The Raiders had nine turnovers in the first quarter and trailed 21-5.

Every time it seemed the Raiders were putting a run together, Parrott’s defense stopped the momentum and converted turnovers into easy baskets. The Patriots scored 10 straight early in the fourth, including two dunks, and never seemed to let up after that.

“I think really early on, we turned the ball over three straight times.,” Van Staalduinen said. “We obviously had a silly technical foul there with the player having the earrings in still. So that’s really frustrating, kind of like those simple little miscues.

“And then I feel like boxing out killed us early. They had a lot of size, and we had some decent athletes, but they really just used their athleticism and their size advantage early, going up 8-0, forcing those three quick turnovers and probably six second-chance points in the first two minutes.”

Marshall Ricks had nine points and Luke Rouse added eight for Pungo.

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