Second place in EPC secured by Pack on Senior Night

Published 8:28 pm Monday, February 17, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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It was Senior Night at Washington High School and the varsity boys’ basketball team was trailing an inspired SouthWest Edgecombe squad after the first quarter.

There didn’t seem to be a worry from Washington fans in the gym. The Pam Pack then turned up the pressure and defense to literally wear out the Cougars. Washington went on to an easy 83-54 victory on Tuesday. The win locked down second place in the Eastern Plains Conference regular season. For good measure, the Pack won at Ayden-Grifton on Thursday, 88-57.

“I don’t really ever worry about being down,” said senior Javon Williams, who finished with 15 points. “We just stay poised, keep the guys locked in. We just came out, started hitting shots.

“And then we started getting stops in transition. And then everything just started going our way because we were playing harder than them.”

Williams was part of an all-senior starting lineup. SouthWest (16-5, 8-4 after Thursday) hit five 3-point baskets and led 23-10 after the first quarter. However, the Pack (18-6, 10-2) didn’t sway and exploded on both sides of the ball to lead 30-28 at the half. Jarryn Payne had two dunks, senior Jacob Daniels hit a 3-pointer and Chaise Smith had a high-flying slam of his own in the final seconds to give the Pack a lead they never gave up.

“Obviously, like senior night, there’s a whole bunch of emotions that are tied into that,” Washington coach David Allewalt said. “And usually the configuration and the way you do things gets turned off a little bit because you try to show respect to the kids that have given you four years of everything they got.

“Regardless of how much playing time they’ve gotten in the past, you kind of let their name be called with the lights and the spotlights and all that kind of stuff. So it’s just a really fun night going into it. And look, like Southwest hit a lot of shots early.”

The Pack pushed the lead to 16 after three quarters 3-pointers from four different players. Throw in several easy layups and a windmill dunk by Smith, who finished with a game-high 21 points, and it was curtains from there.

“You know, we knew if we could get them up and down and make them work a little harder offensively, that they would probably run out of gas,” Allewalt said. “They did the first time we played them. That’s kind of what happened tonight. We started scoring at will, to be honest, in transition.

“And I think that’s what really grew our lead. And then, you know, I thought some defensive stuff kind of set the tone for the comeback, too, like, you know, that loose ball at half court that Javon dove on the floor for, and then kind of slapped it up to Chaise, and he picked it up, went in and dunked it. I mean, they’re big momentum swings, and they kind of fire your team up and make you play harder.”

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