ROBERSONVILLE — Southside doesn’t resume 1-A Coastal Plains Conference competition until the New Year, but Thursday’s South Creek Christmas Tournament game felt like a league contest.

Edenton was physical and made the Lady Seahawks fight for everything they got. They never gave up in keeping the game close through the final whistle, but the Lady Aces emerged with a 50-48 win.

“I told the girls that this game doesn’t define us. It doesn’t hurt us,” coach Milton Ruffin said. “The only thing is it’s going to make us better. It was good competition. That’s what we needed.”

Southside’s biggest shortcoming was competing on the glass. Its defense, which has been a strength thus far, oftentimes forced Edenton to take unfavorable shots. However, the Lady Seahawks simply couldn’t come up with defensive rebounds. All those extra chances for Edenton came back to bite the Lady Seahawks in a one-possession game.

“Rebounds killed us. We just could not get the defensive rebounds,” Ruffin said. “You’ve got to box out. Once you’ve got your hand on the ball, you’ve got to hold onto it. We didn’t do that, so they beat us pretty bad on the boards. That’s what made the difference in the game.”

A bevy of missed chances at the free-throw line also loomed over the Lady Seahawks in the final moments of the game.

However, Southside had to fight back from an early double-digit deficit just to have a puncher’s chance. Jamillian Johnson, a freshman captain for the Lady Aces, began the second quarter with a 3-pointer to push Edenton’s lead to 19-7.

The Lady Seahawks — behind senior Michaela Dixon — responded immediately. She had three baskets from close in and mid range. Fellow veteran Symone Ruffin added three more points by the end of the half to cut the deficit to 25-21.

Edenton created some more separation in the third quarter. A flurry of three buckets from three different players made it a 10-point game again.

Again, though, the Lady Seahawks fought to keep it within reach. Sophomore Shantel Cannon converted on some chances from the charity stripe. Ruffin, who earlier left the game with an apparent knee injury, returned to drain a 3 before the end of the period. That capped off a 10-1 run that put Southside within one, 36-35, heading into the fourth.

“Things weren’t going our way in the first half,” Ruffin said. “We got down by 10 at one point. They didn’t give up. They fought through it.”

Dixon put together arguably the best quarter of her career to give Southside a chance to win. Her baseline jumper gave the Lady Seahawks the lead seven seconds into the final quarter. Then, after Ruffin’s slick handling created some space, Dixon drained a shot from long range to cut the deficit to 43-42 after an Edenton surge.

Dixon went 2-for-2 from the line after the Lady Aces were given a technical foul with six ticks left. Southside trailed 50-48 and had possession, but couldn’t get either of its last two shots to fall.

Ruffin was named the most valuable player of the tournament. She and Danielle Ruffin are battling through injuries heading into Tuesday, which marks Southside’s first home game of the season.