By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
By BRIAN HAINES
Sports Writer
A stellar defensive performance from the Washington girls locked down Jacksonville and locked up their second Coastal Conference win in a row as the Pam Pack grounded the Cardinals 37-27 on Friday.
Washington used an aggressive zone attack that produced many turnovers and led to a few fastbreak buckets to spur the offense.
Point guard Hayley Stowe netted six of her 10 points in the first quarter as Washington (2-5, 2-0) jumped out to a 12-2 lead and never looked back.
Assistant coach Tara Hunter said the improvement on the defensive end led to what she labeled as the Pack’s best game of the season so far.
“I think it was,” Hunter said. “We really stepped up on defense, our defense was really key. We talked about it a lot yesterday at practice. … Defense is all about heart and how much you really want it. It’s personal if you let someone score on you.”
That intense perspective led Washington to a 19-8 halftime lead, which was expanded on thanks to a solid game from guard Kristen Williams who had a team-high 11 points.
“Kristen has improved, she is a very aggressive player,” Hunter said. “She is a very coachable player and that’s what we want, she adjusts very well.”
The Cardinals (1-5) struck behind the versatile play of forward/center Rachel Thompson who scored a game-high 14 points and had several blocked shots. However, Thompson had no help as the Pack allowed only three other Jacksonville players to score.
The Pack JV girls won their season opener as they topped Jacksonville 29-26 thanks to 12 points from Amarie Heggie.
Cardinals shut down Pack
The Washington boys mustered only two points in the first quarter and the offense never rebounded from its slow start as the Pack fell to Jacksonville 63-46.
Washington (3-4, 1-1) had three players reach the double-digit mark in scoring, but the points were few and far between as the team shot 23 percent from the floor.
Lindsey Harris, who was 1-15 from the field prior to Friday’s game, got hot from downtown late and led the team with 11 points, while Taraja Langley and Ridge Hodges each had 10.
“We really, really struggled shooting the ball,” Washington coach Joe Lawrence said. “We just don’t have anybody that can step up and shoot, I mean an actual shooter.”
The Pack offense was also hampered by the absence of Brandon Tripp, who missed major minutes due to early foul trouble.
Throughout the season the Pack has been relying on pressure defense to stimulate the offense, but against the Cardinals (3-2) it just did not happen.
Jacksonville rode the backs of its talented tandem of center Deon Boyce and guard Keegan Johnson who each scored a game-high 17 points.
“A lot of our scoring has been off of transition,” Lawrence said. “A good man defense or our trap is where we have been getting a lot of our scoring from … We just have to start getting some people that can shoot.”
Despite the shooting woes Washington cut the Cardinals lead to 48-40 midway through the fourth quarter, but Jacksonville responded with a 17-5 run to end the game.
The Pam Pack will be back in action on Wednesday when it plays at Greene Central.
Girls game
Jacksonville 2 6 9 10 — 27
Washington 12 7 11 7 — 37
Cardinals (27)
Rachel Thompson 12, Wilcox 2, Wallace 8, Jones 2.
Pam Pack (37)
Cantrell 4, Kristen Williams 11, Hayley Stowe 10, Batchelor 6, Ward 1, Griffin 4, Hiatt 2, Rascoe 1.
Boys
Jacksonville 8 16 19 19 — 63
Washington 2 10 16 8 — 46
Cardinals (63)
Keegan Johnson 17, Deon Boyce 17, Steven Williams 13, Crawford 4, Smith 2, Mouzon 5, Coleman 2.
Pam Pack (46)
Taraja Langley 10, Chance 3, Ridge Hodges 10, Lindsey Harris 10, Tripp 2, Conner 5, WIndley 3.