Washington boys win, Southside girls fall ahead of big matchups

Published 10:04 am Friday, January 31, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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Washington High School’s varsity boys made a remarkable turnaround to beat West Craven. Southside’s girls fell short in a key game they needed to win.

Both prepped on Tuesday for big games on Friday with different results. The Pam Pack won 83-64 after trailing by 12 points early in the second quarter. Southside’s girls found shots hard to fall in a 61-49 loss to Pamlico County in a battle of two of the top three teams in the Coastal Plains Conference.

Washington set for big one

All eyes were set on Friday for Dave W. Smith Gymnasium. It was there that Washington’s boys (13-5, 5-1 Eastern Plains Conference) were set to face Farmville Central (15-4, 6-0) in a key Eastern Plains Conference rematch. The Jaguars won the first meeting in Farmville, 86-81, in the EPC opener for the Pam Pack. The Pack have won six straight since that loss.

The last of those wins came Tuesday after a somewhat uncharacteristic start by Washington. The crowd was taken out of the game after Jimmie West III completed a three-point play then scored on an offensive rebound for West Craven to lead 26-14 with 2:36 left in the half. 

All it took was one of Washington’s many dunks to start the comeback. Jarryn Payne slammed one home on the baseline to start a run by the Pack. Jacob Daniels hit two 3-pointers, Oliver Thomas nailed a trey and Chaise Smith connected on a trey and completed a 3-point play as Washington trailed 36-31 at the half.

Then came the third quarter. Washington put the pressure on defense and used a 14-2 run to take a 45-38 lead with 3:47 left in the quarter. West Craven called a second timeout during that stretch but couldn’t stop the momentum.

Washington’s lead ballooned to 20 near the end of the game. Washington coach David Allewalt said his team has been fighting sickness and several of his players were not at 100 percent. On top of that, the Pack had just played and beaten Ayden-Grifton on Monday, 82-63.

“A couple shots fell, and next thing you know, they went out to a double-digit lead, and we made some adjustments at halftime,” Allewalt said. “I thought coming out, starting our matchup zone in the start of the second half, we went on a 10-0 run, which gave us the lead. They had trouble scoring, couldn’t hit shots from the perimeter.

“So we took away that option for them to get to the basket off the dribble, and I thought they got a little impatient with it, and kind of allowed us to get some stops, and then get in the transition, work on the open floor and stuff like that.”

Smith finished with 31 points, Payne had 19 and Daniels had 15.

Tough night for Seahawks

Southside’s girls (11-5, 2-2 CPC) led 12-11 in the first quarter but missed shots and turnovers put them in a deficit they could not recover.

“It’s all about being consistent,” Southside coach Melvin Ruffin said. “Even with a weaker team or a stronger team, you’ve got to be consistent. Right now, we’re fighting at the bottom, trying to be consistent from game to game.”

The Hurricanes (15-2, 4-0) built a 30-19 halftime lead and stretched it to as much as 16 in the third quarter as Nya Clark had six points. In the second half, Clark ended up with 13 of her 26 points while Sydney Whitley-Reese had nine of her 18 points.

Southside got as close as 46-38 after Tamya Smith hit a 3-pointer with 5:02 left but could never get closer.

“Yeah, we dug ourselves in a little bit, trying to get back at it,” Ruffin said. “Didn’t consistently look like we found a way to come back when we made that run. And then we just went back to our old ways, just couldn’t sustain it.”

Smith finished with 13 points, Lily McLean had 12 despite foul trouble and Michelle Brown added seven. I’Kiriyah Minor, Southside’s leading scorer, was held to five points.

Southside did bounce back the next day, winning at East Carteret, 52-42, ahead of Friday’s game against Northside (15-1, 4-0).

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