By By BRIAN HAINES, Brian@wdnweb.com, Sports Writer
CHOCOWINITY — Though they fought hard until the final seconds, there would be no miracle ending this time for the Panthers as the Pam Pack came up with big free throws and a few key stops to secure a 53-49 victory in the championship game of the Wells Fargo Holiday Tournament on Tuesday.
One day after topping Pamlico 73-72 on a lone free throw with no time on the clock, Northside attempted to pull off another thrilling victory as it tried to rally from a seven point, fourth quarter deficit.
A Toney Peele bucket cut Washington’s lead to 49-47 with 32 seconds left in the game, but Washington (4-5, Coastal Conference) was able to convert four of its six free throws down the stretch while allowing only two more points to win the tourney title.
“Once again we talked about the fact that it’s going to take defense to win,” Washington coach Steve Flowers said. “We were able to play defense and we hit our free throws down the stretch.”
The Pam Pack got a big effort from its big man Brandon Tripp, who fought off ankle pain to score a team-high 14 points, including six in the fourth quarter.
Josh O’Neill added 11, while Ridge Hodges, who made three out of his four fourth quarter free throws, added nine points.
Flowers said the win will provide some good momentum for his team going into the winter break.
“It feels good to go on break with two straight wins,” Flowers said. “We will be home for the first game back and it feels good to go into that game with a streak.”
For Northside, Peele was a big factor once again as he scored a game-high 19 points. The Panthers also got a strong game from Damount Harvey, who tallied 10.
For 1-A Northside (7-3, Four Rivers Conference), the game showed a lot of positives as the team fought a close game against the 3-A Pam Pack.
“I thought our guys played really, really hard,” Northside coach Mike Procter said. “I thought they did what I asked them too. We had a couple of players that didn’t play and had some JV guys in there, so it was a few players that haven’t played together a lot so I think our chemistry was so good at times. But we played good, we played hard and I’m proud of them.”
Pamlico 66, Southside 47
After losing a heartbreaker to Northside on the first day of the Wells Fargo Holiday Tournament Pamlico bounced back with a 66-47 win over the hosting Southside Seahawks to earn third place in the four-team tourney.
The Hurricanes 6-5 all-everything guard/forward Shane Whitfield pumped in a game-high 33 points to lead his team to victory.
For Pamlico coach Earl Sadler, getting his team to play together was a key ingredient in Tuesday’s success.
“I thought our chemistry was much better,” Sadler said. “We had really great chemistry but we lost a starter, but tonight I think we played together a lot better.”
Pamlico (5-5, Coastal Plains Conference) trailed 10-9 after the first quarter, but out-scored Southside 17-4 in the second to take control the game and a 26-14 lead into halftime.
Southside (2-7, Four Rivers Conference) was led by Curtis Meyers’ 17 points and a 14-point effort by guard Reggie Selby, but overall the offense was not there for the Seahawks.
“It goes back to shooting, we were 1-for-11 in the second quarter,” Southside coach Sean White said. “When you’re not hitting your shots it hurts.”
Game 1
Pamlico 9 17 18 22 — 66
Southside 10 4 13 20 — 47
Hurricanes (66)
Shane Whitfield 33, Anthony McCray 14, Best 5, No. 10 6, Damon 4, Jones 4.
Seahawks (47)
Reggie Selby 14, Curtis Meyers 17, Grice 2, Jordan 1, Benston 3, Harding 5, Stanley 2, Moore 2.
Game 2
Northside 10 11 11 17 — 49
Washington 6 17 12 18 — 53
Panthers (49)
Woolard 7, Toney Peele 19, Moore 2, Damount Harvey 10, No. 34 6.
Pam Pack (53)
Brandon Tripp 14, Graham 8, Josh O’Neill 11, Conner 4, Hodges 9, Moore 6, Bell 1.