CHOCOWINITY — Southside pulled away Jan. 11 to beat Mattamuskeet 66-49 and earn their first consecutive victories of the season. The Seahawks built a lead early on, going up 19-13 by the end of the first, but didn’t truly pull away until the final eight minutes.

The traveling Lakers spent much of the first three periods trailing by two or three possessions, but never fell out of contention. Tamazja Dixon made a pair of free throws sandwiched between a 3-pointer by center Donshae Tatum and a transition layup by Pat Coffey. It gave the Seahawks a 46-31 lead late in the third quarter.

Mattamuskeet rallied before the penultimate buzzer. Vincent Whitfield sank a floater from the baseline. Sharvonte Williams knocked down a trey and Shavon Whitfield got a short jumper to make it a two-possession, 46-38 game going into the fourth.

“I’ve been reiterating the speech from the Pamlico game on Friday about playing with heart and giving 110 percent the whole 32 minutes,” Southside coach Sean White said. “We did. We played hard. … I called a timeout in the third or maybe the fourth to settle them down a little bit. From then on, it went out the roof.”

The fourth quarter saw the Seahawks go on a 15-4 run to take a commanding 61-42 lead. It shows White an impressive degree of maturity for a relatively inexperienced group. Tatum and guard Johnny Sullivan are the only two in the lineup with previous starting experience.

“It just says a lot about their maturity,” he said. “At the beginning of the year, they weren’t really vocal at practice. … You can see they were talking on the floor. They’re starting to do that more. I think that’s just their maturity level increasing. They’re starting to work together and look better together when they’re on the floor.”

Southside’s offense ran through the aggressive play of its guards. Coffey and Dixon were frequently able to drive in for either a layup or a trip to the free-throw line. The two sides went tit for tat to start off. The Lakers took a 7-5 lead before Southside went on a quick run to take a 14-7 lead.

Coffey and Dixon were both able to work their way inside. Dixon put his skill on display with a pair of flashy finishes at the rim. Tatum, who opened the scoring for Southside with a 3-pointer, completed another three-point play to help his team build a lead it would hold onto for the duration. He grabbed his own rebound, scored through contact and converted at the charity stripe.

Tre’zhon Farrow and Jalen Clayton each 3-pointers early in the second to cut Mattamuskeet’s deficit to 22-19. Southside responded to create some separation. Matt Baxter knocked down a shot from behind the arc in the last 32 seconds to help give the Seahawks a 33-26 advantage at halftime.

Motion on offense was the key to Southside’s success throughout. There was nary a moment where the Seahawks stood still. They knew where to be with or without the ball.

“They know that, in our offense, if we’re motionless, especially away from the ball, then it’s not going to work,” White said. “Our pass and cut that we run … The guy passing the ball has to screen the ball, cut to the basket or screen away. … The ball movement away from the ball is definitely a big thing.