PINETOWN — Basketball season had a delayed start for Southside. The football team made it to the regional final, which pushed back the season opener until Dec. 15. Playing five games in less than a week has helped both the boys and girls make up for lost time, though.

The Seahawks didn’t get to ease into the beginning of the season, either. They got right down to business when they traveled to 1-A Coastal Plains Conference foe East Carteret. They stayed on the road for a second league clash at Jones Senior just two days later.

It was a tough way to begin the season. They had just two practices with the full team prior to the first game of the season, which was hardly enough time to install the basics on offense and defense.

“I was just trying to get the basics in,” said coach Sean White. “Get our main motion offense in, at least one press, our press break and some out of bounds stuff, too. We couldn’t do any drills to get them ready. It was mainly trying to get the stuff in an walking through it, then getting a defense in and running it so the guys can see it. It’s tough.”

The Seahawks lost those two conference matchups to start the season. They fell 86-47 to a formidable Mariners squad. They had an 11-point lead at halftime against Jones Senior, but fell 67-53.

Early-season errors have, for the most part, been correctable. While that’s reassuring, Southside hasn’t had many opportunities to get together to practice. The Seahawks played five games in a week to kick off the season.

“They’re things that we need to have practice to get better at,” White said. “There’s some things we’re doing that can’t be corrected in-game. They have to be corrected during practice. We’re getting there. … It’s just the little things that have gone wrong, like maybe being out of position on a play.”

The Seahawks moved on from their back-to-back conference games to competing in the Northside Christmas Tournament. It has been a positive experience because the adrenaline associated with some of the rivalry games helps them rise to the occasion.

They earned their first win of the season in the tournament — a 58-56 victory over Oakwood.

They have continued to improve throughout the tournament. They went on to play Washington in their second game of the tournament. The Pam Pack had a 17-8 lead after the first quarter, but Southside showed plenty of heart to make it a close contest throughout.

The Seahawks opened up the second period on a 10-0 run to take an 18-17 lead. Pat Coffey spearheaded the effort by picking up the pace. He got a layup in transition and, shortly after, stole the ball and cruised in for another easy basket. He earned another 3 points at the free-throw line in that run, too.

Washington reclaimed the lead and only let go of it once near the end of the third.

“We played against a Washington team that’s pretty good and only lost by four,” White said. “We were in it the whole game. … I told them in the locker room I was pleased with their effort.”

Southside wrapped up the Christmas Tournament against a tough Bertie team on Monday evening. With that stretch of games under their belt, the Seahawks can now take the things they noticed and work on them during practice. How they practice during the break will be important.

“That’s how Christmas Tournaments are. Play, play, play,” White said. “We’ve got to have some time to ourselves on the court to just hone some of those skills we need to get better — our halfcourt offense, especially.”

Solidifying a rotation will be one of White’s primary objectives heading into the New Year.

The schedule doesn’t let up just yet. Southside returns from break to host Lejeune on Jan. 4. The boys will travel to Washington on Jan. 6 and then return home to resume conference play with Pamlico County on Jan. 8.

Things haven’t been any easier for the Lady Seahawks. They also started off the season with five games in a week. They earned their first win in electric fashion by edging Northside, 53-50, to start the Christmas Tournament.

“We were already in shape, just not game shape,” said coach Milton Ruffin. “We didn’t have our legs. Everybody else had their chemistry. We didn’t have that, but I think this tournament here will help us down the road.”

Getting thrown into the fire helped both the boys and girls make up for lost time quickly. Now they focus their attention internally and aim to fix mistakes in practice during the holiday layoff.