BETHEL — Sharwan Staton knocked down a 3-pointer late in the second quarter to give Washington a 30-28 lead over North Pitt. The Pam Pack was looking to pick up its second 2-A Eastern Plains Conference win of the year, and to sweep the Panthers on its way out of the league.

However, the wheels came off from there in a 78-53 loss. The homestanding Panthers got two quick baskets from Reginald Carney and then a trip to the free-throw line to take a 34-30 lead into the locker room.

Malic Corey made a pair of foul shots to open the second half, but North Pitt erupted for 12 unanswered points after that. The Panthers dominated the glass to get plenty of extra opportunities after missed shots. Nasqueonta Staton started and ended that run with tip ins.

“Credit to Washington,” North Pitt coach Mark Carson said. “In the first half, they didn’t back down. That’s the thing with local teams — they’re not going to back down. We’ve got to match their intensity and go back and do the little things. If you do the little things, the big things will happen.

“… It’s all about defense and rebounding to me. At their place, they beat us pretty good on the boards. Here, it’s competitive. If they’re in the zone, we’ve got to get rebounds. If we can’t shoot, we’ve got to get rebounds.”

Washington ended the run with a layup with 2:37 left in the third. It was the Pam Pack’s first field goal of the half, and they got one more, but a triple from Ke’patrique Best at the buzzer sent North Pitt into the fourth with a 53-36 lead.

“We had a good first two quarters. Then we’ve got to try and get a good two and three quarters in, then four quarters,” Washington coach Ralph Biggs said. “It’s just a building situation.

“I think they felt like they had to come and that they knew that we could beat them if they didn’t bring their A game.”

Thomas Edwards found Jirah Woolard open under the basket for a layup. The play was well-run, but Washington was only able to muster eight points in over 11 minutes of play in the second half.

After 11 lead changes in the first half, Biggs believes that the team buckled due to the plethora of new information that’s come its way since the coaching change.

“They’ve got a lot of new things coming at them,” Biggs said. “At some point, it kind of gets heavy on them. When the other is doing what they do, and you’re trying to do the new things, sometimes the bottom will fall out. I think, (Tuesday), the bottom fell out.”

After North Pitt built a 30-point lead in the fourth, the Pam Pack was able to hit its stride a bit and score 15 points in the final few minutes.

From here, the plan is to send the team’s seniors out with a win when Washington hosts North Johnston on Friday for senior night. Barring an EPC tournament win, Friday marks the end of the road for the Pam Pack.