Things didn’t go as expected in Washington’s season opener. Northern Nash scooted past the Pam Pack, 69-68, thanks to a three pointer with less than three seconds remaining. It was a game they should have won, but they learned from the loss. There’s not a lot of animosity going into Tuesday’s rematch at Northern Nash because they know the contest was within reach.

Washington has been focusing on its fundamentals. Improving on that front will help the team with rebounding and staying out of foul trouble. The Pam Pack has a minus-36 rebounding differential and has conceded 29 offensive rebounds through just two games. That can be partially attributed to being undersized, but there are ways to compensate.

“We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds in those two games,” said head coach Steven Flowers. “We’ve been working on not giving those up … We’ve got to box out. It’s got to be fundamental. We’re not going to out-jump people. We’re not taller than people, so we’ve got to box out.”

Washington lost its first two games by a combined nine points. Improving on the glass, especially in their own zone, should help the Pam Pack take away second-chance opportunities. In addition, defensive rebounds are key to running their transition offense.

Fouling is another defensive shortcoming that has plagued the Pam Pack early on. They committed 35 fouls between their first two games. Tyshawn Cobb fouled out of both contests and other players got in foul trouble, too.

What it comes down to is defending without fouling. Of course, that is an issue that can be at least partially chalked up to settling in at the beginning of the season. Even so, Flowers noticed certain things he’s been addressing in practice.

“We’ve got to learn to move our feet and not reach,” he said. “We’re not trying to take the ball away, we’ll make them give it away. Things like that.”

Just like the rebounding struggle, fouling has impacted the Pam Pack offense, too. Having to bench players that are in danger of fouling out limits what they can do.

“We’re limited in certain positions. When those guys get in foul trouble, we don’t have a lot of options,” Flowers said, specifying his forwards. “That limits everything we do.”

Fouls also gave both Northern Nash and Greene Central more than enough opportunities at the charity stripe to pull off the win. The Knights made 19 free throws in their one-point win and the Rams made 14 to help win by eight.

Take away a couple of free throws and second-chance buckets and Washington is 2-0 instead of 0-2.

Fundamentally, Washington is a bit behind the eight ball because it didn’t have summer workouts. Flowers has focused on that since practice started a month ago.

“Since the start, we’ve been working on those things,” he said. “But, a lot of times, kids fail to transfer what they do in practice to a game. We’ve got to drill it in to them so it becomes second nature.”

It’s a work in progress. Washington should get more sound with each practice and each game. That is, after all, one point of the non-conference portion of the season. The Pam Pack hope to find their first win and a smidge of redemption at Northern Nash on Tuesday.

“If we take care of these little things and don’t turn the ball over, we’ll get the next one,” Flowers said.