CHOCOWINITY — Trailing rival Southside by 16 points at halftime, Northside coach Michelle Leathers walked into the locker room and asked her team if it wanted to feel joy or pain. The truth is, by the end of the fourth quarter each team would experience a little bit of both during Southside’s 77-52 victory on Wednesday.
At first glance it would appear the Seahawks won in blowout fashion, which they did. Sort of. But not really.
Southside blitzed Northside early as it began the game on a 12-0 run and took a 21-9 lead after the first quarter.
The Seahawks attacked from the perimeter as guards Rosiland Clark and Melvisha Dudley combined for 49 points to give Southside a 35-19 lead after two quarters. Clark would finish with a game-high 25 points, while Dudley erupted for 24.
That was pure pain for the Panthers.
“They jumped on us,” Leathers said. “You have to compliment them for that. They came out and got out to a 21-9 lead.”
However, Northside would get some joy in the third quarter as the pumped up Panthers rallied behind sophomore guard Alex Adam’s team-high 19 points and trimmed the Seahawks’ lead down to nine after an acrobatic layup by Adams.
Northside outscored Southside 20-14 in the third to start the fourth down only 49-39.
The Panthers would get within eight points in early the fourth quarter but in the final stanza the joy jumped back to the Seahawks bench as they regained their earlier form and erupted for 28 points to push the game out of reach.
Wednesday’s contest was the second in a row for both Southside and Northside and both coaches felt that contributed to their respective hot and cold streaks. Despite the players  being tired, the game was still decided by traditional basketball truisms as turnovers and execution dictated the outcome.
The bottom line was that late in the game Southside was able to get big steals and protect the basketball when it had to.
“I was just telling our girls to really take care of the ball,” Southside coach Bill Lake said. “They were coming at us and I wanted to make sure we ran the plays to break the press properly.”
Both teams will play their third game of the week tonight as Southside travels to Plymouth and Northside hosts Camden.

Northside    9    10    20    13    —    52
Southside    21    14    14    28    —    77
Panthers (52)
Alex Adams 19, Woolard 4, Whitney 8, Franks 6, Slade 7, Alligood 7, Stanley 1, Gruber 2.
Seahawks (77)
Breanna Blango 11, Rosiland Clark 25, Mourning 7, Melvisha Dudley 24, Hardy 1, Purdue 4, Stanbridge 2, Tisdale 3.