PINETOWN — It wasn’t supposed to end like that. Usually when a winless team is down 15 points in the fourth quarter it rolls over liked a trained puppy. However, South Creek refused to play the role of doormat and battled back against Northside with a furious fourth quarter rally. But in the end, it wasn’t enough to erase three poor quarters as the Panthers held on to win 42-38 on Tuesday.
“We just got a little comfortable,” Northside coach Michelle Leathers said.
The Panthers (3-8 Four Rivers) got cozy quick as they unleashed a 15-5 run on South Creek (0-12 Four Rivers) as center Jordan Woolard scored all six of her points in the first quarter.
Northside’s momentum continued as Mallory Paul tallied five points in the second to go ahead 25-11 at halftime.
Brittney Alligood would lead the Panthers with 10 points, while Caroline Slade added eight.
The tide turned in the second half as South Creek guard Kim Mobley caught fire scoring nine of her game-high 16 points over the final two periods.
At the start of the fourth Northside still held a sizable 36-21 lead, but that’s when Caldwell Blanks, who was filling in for Cougars coach Greg Exum who was recovering from dental surgery, decided to press.
The decision worked as South Creek not only stole the ball but momentum as well, and began to chip away.
“We went to the press because we were down and we had to do something,” Blanks said.
It worked as the Panthers struggled mightily against the Cougars pressure.
“We got frustrated with the press,” Leathers said. “We work on the press every single day, I just think they caught us off guard.”
With 2:30 left in the game Victoria Van Nortwick scored to cut the Panthers lead to 39-31. South Creek would get as close as four with three seconds left in the game but time ran out on their rally.
“I commended the girls for playing hard, they never gave up,” Blanks said. “The played hard for 32 minutes.

South Creek    5    6    10    17    —    38    Northside    15    10    11    6    —    42
Cougars (38)
Kim Mobley 16, Griffin 6, Parker 4, Van Nortwick 4, Baker 4, Purvis 3.
Panthers (42)
Slade 8, K. Alligood 1, Franks 2, Woolard 6, Brittney Alligood 10, Clark 4, Paul 7, Adams 1, Whitney 2.