Washington earns first league win
Published 2:05 am Saturday, January 14, 2017
- Nazayah Parker eludes a Beddingfield defender as she drives to the basket. She and the Lady Pack overcame a third-quarter slump in Friday’s win.
WILSON — Trazyia Windley’s free throw was Washington’s only point of the third quarter. The Lady Pack’s performance in the other 24 minutes of action was enough for it to earn its first 2-A Eastern Plains Conference win of the season, 48-42 at Beddingfield.
That foul shot came with 2:04 left in the third — three minutes after coach Ralph Biggs called a timeout to rally his troops. Meanwhile, Beddingfield was able to erase its 8-point deficit. The Lady Bruins got a trio of 3-pointers to fall, helping them take a 32-28 lead into the final period.
Beddingfield got the first baskets of the game. Daria Jones responded for Washington when she made her first three shots in a row — all 3-pointers from the same spot in the corner. Tierra Wiggins found Nazayah Parker open for a layup in the middle of Jones’ barrage, and the Lady Pack took an early 11-4 lead.
“I think that opened it up for us. It got everybody comfortable,” coach Ralph Biggs said. “Daria has been playing well for us. … It’s part of the game plan well since she’s shooting so well. We’ve got to let her shoot sometimes.”
After an even first quarter, Washington led by as many as 10 points in the second. A 10-0 surge was punctuated by an altercation between the two teams. Both Washington and Beddingfield were given technical fouls, and a Lady Bruin was ejected from the contest.
“It hurt us at halftime because I told them to calm down. There was another altercation in the back,” Biggs said. “I think it took them from playing basketball. In the second quarter, I think it pumped them up. Then, when it continued on, it got more serious in their minds and they were thinking about that more than basketball.”
After taking the lead in the third, Beddingfield carried the momentum into the beginning of the fourth. The hosts extended their lead to as much as seven. With 5:50 left to play, Kizoria Redmond’s layup gave Washington its first basket since the second.
“At the end of the (third) I told them to relax,” Biggs said. “We scored one point. Well, how many times are we only going to score one point? It’s the law of averages. … We were getting the shots we wanted. Nazayah Parker got the shots she wanted. I’m confident in the girls. If we keep giving it to them, they’re going to make it.”
The Lady Pack, despite missing plenty of opportunities at the free-throw line, were able to capitalize on enough to take the lead. Parker’s trip to the charity stripe gave Washington its first lead of the fourth, and Wiggins knocked one down from long range to push the advantage to 44-39 with just over two minutes left.
Luck worked against the Lady Bruins as they tried to comeback. Easy baskets just barely rolled out of the rim, and they couldn’t convert on free throws.