By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
It was a Senior Night to remember, in particularly for Washington senior Hayley Stowe who shook off a kick from D.H. Conley’s Shaquanza Manning to lead the Pam Pack to a 63-36 win over the Vikings on Friday night.
In the third quarter Manning drew a charge on Stowe under the basket. The collision sent Stowe to the ground, and as she tried to get up Manning kicked Stowe while she was down.
The unsportsmanlike move cost Manning her fifth foul and her team a technical, but by that time the extra free throws were meaningless as Washington had already put the game out of reach.
Manning could only sit on the bench and look on as Stowe scored a career-high 23 points on her Vikings, as the Pam Pack upped its record to 9-11 (8-4, Atlantic Conference)
Aside from Stowe, the Pam Pack honored fellow senior Shonnita McIver who scored four points.
Kristen Williams and Rakira Ward continued to provide the Pam Pack with a boost as they scored 12 and nine respectively, while Beth Batchelor added six.
“I’m glad the seniors were able to have a game like this tonight, I’m sure it will be a win that they will always remember” Washington coach Allison Jones said. “I thought we came out with some good energy and played well on defense. We had a good halfcourt press and we were able to get some turnovers.”
The Pam Pack got off to a sluggish start as they took a 9-5 lead at the end of an ugly first quarter, but then put the game out of reach by out-scoring D.H. Conley 38-19 over the next two quarters.
Center Courtney Fornville an Manning lead the Vikings (7-13, 4-8, Atlantic Conference) with 11 points each.
Washington rally falls short
The Pam Pack put together a thunderous second half led by Taraja Langley and Ridge Hodges, but it was not enough to overcome a slow start as Washington fell 61-53 to D.H. Conley on the team’s Senior Night Friday.
Washington fell behind 39-26 at halftime and went into the break looking like the team that had little fight left in them. However, a staunch defensive effort mixed with some clutch play by Langley and Harris brought the Pam Pack to brink of an upset late in the game.
A decision to go to a halfcourt trap by Washington coach Joe Lawrence provided the team with some much-needed stops, which in turn created transition buckets for Langley, who scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the third quarter.
Langley’s eruption recaptured the momentum for Washington as it went into the fourth quarter down only 49-41.
In the fourth it was Hodges’ turn to shine as he buried two three pointers, with a long two in between to cut the Vikings’ lead to 51-49. However, Hodges’ 10 fourth-quarter points could not carry Washington any further.
After Hodges’ second three cut the lead to two points, Conley (15-6, 9-3) ripped off a 10-4 run to close out the game.
Lawrence said the team’s cold first quarter was costly.
“I think right there in the beginning we were kind of shell-shocked,” Lawrence said. “I don’t know if it was because we were celebrating Senior Night and it took us a while to get going, but it took us a while to settle in. That was the big problem, that first quarter.”
Barring a home playoff game, Friday night was the last game at Washington High School for seniors Chris Albritton (seven points), William Chance (one point), Lindsey Harris (four points), Philip Horton and Langley.
Girls’ game
D.H. Conley 5 11 8 12 — 36
Washington 9 18 20 13 — 63
Vikings (36)
Courtney Fornville 11, Shakquanza Manning 11, Adams 9, Fuller 1, White 1, Gonzales 1.
Pam Pack (63)
Kristen Williams 12, Batchelor 6, Griffin 8, Ward 9, Hayley Stowe 23, Hiatt 1, McIver 4.
Boys’ game
D.H. Conley 20 19 10 12 — 61
Washington 10 16 15 12 — 53
Vikings (61)
Sam Best 21, Vos 4, McLawhorn 9, Williams 6, Lewis 6, Clark 8, Martin 2.
Pam Pack (53)
Harris 4, Albritton 7, Chance 1, Ridge Hodges 17, Tripp 6, Taraja Langley 19.