Southwest Edgecombe’s speedy guard play proved too much for the Pam Pack Tuesday night, as Washington was overwhelmed in the Eastern Plains Conference opener, 66-37.

For the first time this season, the Pam Pack had to take the court without senior center Abby Walker, who had wisdom teeth surgery earlier that day. The loss left Washington vulnerable in the frontcourt and sophomore captain Teliyah Owens capitalized, burning the Pam Pack defense in transition and finding open teammates for easy layups.

After a defensive first quarter, Southwest Edgecombe opened up the lead in the second and outscored the Pam Pack 20-8.

“We took 13 shots in the first half,” head coach Jon Scharpenberg said. “We spent halftime trying to make adjustments on offense. Give that team a lot of credit. They have some good guards that are quick, smart and well coached. Hats off to Southwest Edgecombe. The nice thing about our league is we play teams twice.”

The Cougars only added to their 17-point halftime lead in the third quarter. Through Owens’ near flawless distribution, shooting guard Montana York and forward Shayla Ellis capitalized. York dropped 11 third-quarter points, while Ellis complimented with 12 of her own, as Washington was outscored, 30-10.

“We’re coming off a break. I’m going to take this loss on me,” Scharpenberg said. “You try to balance the break without losing some steps, I think we took a step backwards tonight. Sometimes losing a game like this where you give up 30 points in the third quarter, it shows that when you get away from certain principles. I did like the effort. We could of laid down, but I (didn’t) think our kids quit. We just have to get better and our league is tough.”

Turnovers came in uncharacteristic bunches for Washington and Southwest Edgecombe continued to press every inbounds pass. The Pam Pack finished on a 13-5 run, but the lead proved to large.

For Washington, Eric Hopkins finished with a team-high 13 points, while Shona Midgette notched seven points. Southwest Edgecombe’s Ellis led all scorers with 21 points.

“We have some glaring weaknesses in transition and the other thing is sharing the ball, getting to move a little bit better. Once we do that, we’ll be a fun team to watch,” Scharpeberg said.

The Pam Pack will look to pick up its first conference win when it faces Farmville Central on the road Friday evening.