By By BRIAN HAINES, Brian@wdnweb.com, Sports Writer
CHOCOWINITY — Washington’s first-year coach Steve Flowers wanted to see more defense from his team and on Monday he got it as the Pam Pack rolled past Southside 54-35 in the first round of the Wells Fargo Holiday Tournament at Southside High School.
The Pam Pack (3-5, Coastal Conference) did not allow the Seahawks to score over double-digits in every quarter except the fourth. That effort allowed the team to move on to the championship round of the tournament where it will face Northside, who won a thriller over Pamlico earlier in the night.
“We talked early on about getting better defensively,” Flowers said. “And tonight they were able to do that.”
On offense, Washington put forth a balanced effort as three players scored over 10 points versus Southside. Center Brandon Tripp led the way with a game-high 14 points, while D.J. Bell tallied 13 and Keane Graham tallied 11.
“It was a night where everyone contributed,” Flowers said. “D.J. Bell, Brandon and Keane played well, but I thought everyone made contributions.”
The Seahawks fell behind 9-5 after the first quarter, but let the game get away from them over the next two quarters as Washington out-scored them 32-13.
“We just shot ourselves out of the game tonight,” Southside’s first-year coach Sean White said. “Washington has a really good team but we just missed way too many shots. We shot 4-for-20 in the first half.”
Curtis Meyers and Tony Grice paced Southside (2-6, Four Rivers Conference) with six points each.
Southside will face Pamlico at 6 p.m. today in a battle for third place, while the Washington-Northside game will be played shortly after.
Northside 73, Pamlico 72
The first game of the Wells Fargo Holiday Tournament ended in stunning fashion as Pamlico erased a 20-point deficit only to lose 73-72 to Northside on a free throw with no time on the clock in the fourth quarter Monday at Southside High School.
After scoring zero points in the first quarter, Hurricanes’ star forward Shane Whitfield tallied 17 of his game-high 37 points in the fourth quarter and helped his team take its first lead of the night when his layup made it 67-66 with two minutes left in the contest.
After Whitfield went 1-for-2 at the free throw line, it looked like Pamlico all but had the game locked as it took a 72-68 lead with :09 on the clock.
However, Northside’s Damount Harvey raced down the court for a quick bucket to cut the lead to 72-70 with 3.6 seconds left in the game.
On the ensuing inbounds play Pamlico passed the ball and it bounced through its own player’s legs into the hands of Harvey, who alerted hoisted up a jumper, buried the shot, and drew a foul.
It was the worst possibly scenario for Pamlico coach Earl Sadler, but the best moment of the season for Harvey and the Panthers.
With the score tied at 72 and no time on the clock, Harvey stood at the free throw line and calmly converted his lone free throw to propel his team to the championship round of the tournament where it will face Washington.
“We just wanted to front everybody on the inbounds pass and try to get a steal,” Northside coach Mike Procter said. “But it got into Damount’s hands and he made a big time play.
“We practice game-winning free throws all the time at practice, but it’s a lot different in the game. He was able to come up big.”
Northside center Toney Peele also came up big, as he scored a team-high 23 points and was a force in the paint all night long. Northside (7-2, Four Rivers Conference) also got key contributions from Tyrek Moore (12 points) and Taequan Mackey (11 points).
For Pamlico, the loss erased what would have other wise been a great comeback. The team came up with key stops all throughout the second half to get itself back in the game, but just couldn’t complete the comeback.
Pamlico (4-5, Coastal Plains Conference) will take on Southside today at 6 p.m. in a battle for third place in the tourney.
Game 1
Pamlico 10 17 19 26 — 72
Northside 23 18 16 16 — 73
Hurricanes (72)
Anthony McCray 11, Jones 9, Brown 3, Best 6, Shane Whitfield 37, Heath 3
Panthers (73)
Tyrek Moore 12, Toney Peele 23, Damount Harvey 13, Taequan Mackey 11, Moore 2, No. 21 3, No. 13 3
Game 2
Washington 9 17 15 13 — 54
Southside 5 7 6 19 — 35
Pam Pack (54)
O’Neill 2, Slade 6, Brandon Tripp 14, D.J. Bell 13, Keane Graham 11, Hodges 5, Moore 2.
Seahawks (35)
Myers 6, White 5, Benston 4, Selby 5, Grice 6, Jordan 3, Stokes 2.