Parker, Lady Pack dominate second half in win
Published 8:01 pm Wednesday, December 21, 2016
- Nazayah Parker jumps out in transition in the third quarter. She had 12 points in the period and a game-best 21 total.
GREENVILLE — After falling short to Conley in the first day of the Parker’s BBQ Girls’ Basketball Tournament, Washington found itself trailing North Lenoir by two at halftime on Wednesday.
Nazayah Parker took over coming out of the intermission to help lead the Lady Pack to a 57-43 win over the Lady Hawks. Parker had 12 points in the third quarter, and led all scorers with 21. Washington, as a team, outscored North Lenoir 35-19 in the final 16 minutes.
“She’s doing what she’s capable of doing,” Washington coach Ralph Biggs said. “She’s a scorer by nature, but she’s trying to fit in with the team. She’s changing her game a bit to fit in with the team, which is great. Sometimes she’ll have these explosions because she has all the ability.”
There weren’t many physical adjustments made at halftime. Rather, Biggs told them that if they wanted it, to go out and get it.
“Mainly it was an adjustment of if you want it, get it,” he said. “The girls want it, so go out there, play and have fun. They were missing and not having a lot of fun. They decided they wanted it more.”
Parker had notched Washington’s last three points of the first half and came out firing in the second. She got a trio of long 2-pointers just inside the arc, added another basket in transition and was a perfect 4-of-4 at the free-throw line in the period.
She scored the Lady Pack’s first 10 points of the third. Washington and North Lenoir traded baskets until the rest of the girls got in on the action. Daria Jones scored on a fastbreak, Kizoria Redmond grabbed a board and put it back up, and Traziya Windley knocked down a 3-pointer.
It gave Washington a 42-37 edge heading into the fourth. The Lady Pack shut the door by outscoring the Lady Hawks 15-6 in the final eight minutes. It did so with Parker on the bench, too.
“She ran herself out. She went so hard,” Biggs said. “Her replacement, Shi’erika (Brown), did so well. They kept the level up, so we just stayed with it.”
Biggs was pleased to see his team keep rolling even with its leading scorer on the bench.
“That’s a real good problem. When they give me that problem, I’m happy,” he said.
Washington trailed 10-8 late in the first before ending the quarter on a 5-0 spurt. Jones hauled in a rebound and went back up for a basket, added a free throw and Redmond laid one in at the buzzer.
North Lenoir, which had picked up its first win of the season just before the tournament, scored eight unanswered to open the second. Rahziah Hutchins scored through contact in transition, and converted at the charity stripe for a 3-point play. J’Lesa Sauls followed that up with a triple. The senior guard duo pushed the Lady Hawks’ lead to 18-13.
Jones made it a one-possession, 22-19 game when she got a pass, turned and put it up from mid range.
Washington moved on to face South Central at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday in its final game of the tournament.