Washington was looking for its second win in as many days to start the season, but fell apart in the fourth quarter en route to a 48-29 loss to Fike. The visiting Lady Demons outscored the Lady Pack 17-6 in the final period of play.

“We came apart. We don’t know how to handle the situation yet,” coach Ralph Biggs said. “We don’t know all the things that go around basketball. The crowd makes a little noise, we can’t handle that. We make a slight mistake, get slightly out of position, and we can’t handle that yet. We’ve got to mature.”

A 3-pointer from Fike put the visitors ahead 21-12 about halfway through the second quarter. A pair of free throws and a late jumper by Nazayah Parker made it a two-possession game going into the intermission.

Another basket by Parker cut Washington’s deficit to four points early in the third quarter, but her side couldn’t muster much after that. The Lady Pack knew what it was doing offensively, but it appeared its timing was off just a bit.

“I think it was the type of shots,” Biggs said of the subpar shooting. “You’ve got to know when you’re open and why you’re open. We didn’t get an offensive rhythm. We didn’t get enough passes to get everyone in a rhythm. I think we were living off of talent, and that catches up with you.”

Biggs chalked that up to playing Wednesday night and not having an opportunity to practice before Thursday’s game.

“It’s early in the season, and we haven’t had a lot of practice yet,” Biggs said. “We had a game (Wednesday). We didn’t have a chance to correct things (Thursday). It’s just the early season. We’ve got things we have to work on.”

Meanwhile, Jada Lee capped off her explosive third-quarter performance with a trey that pushed Fike’s lead to 31-23 entering the fourth.

Tasia Ebron got a steal and quickly scored. ShiErika Brown added a free throw to make it a 5-point game, but Washington came unglued after that. A basket after a missed Lady Pack fast-break opportunity helped spark a 17-0 run by FIke.

Kizoria Redmond hit a shot from behind the arc — the only field goal of the quarter after Ebron’s early layup — and Washington lost its first game in lopsided fashion.

Being that it’s early in the season, there are still some positive takeaways in the loss. Washington played strong defensively before conceding 17 unanswered points.

“I think we could have played better, but it’s good that we played some good defense,” Biggs said. “It’s something to build on.”

Washington looks to bounce back Monday when it hosts Jones Senior.