PINETOWN — Northside starting forward Bryson Radcliffe told coach Mike Proctor before Monday’s game he could play if needed. About 10 minutes in, he said it’s probably best he don’t play.

It turned out the Panthers didn’t need the senior’s services. He’s been nursing an ankle injury. Fellow seniors Dawson Jackson, Dustin Boseman and Shikeem Carter more than picked up the slack in an 85-61 win over Southside in the opening round of the 1-A Coastal Plains Conference tournament.

“He’ll be back by (the playoffs). We just try to take it one game at a time,” Proctor said. “I thought Boseman and Shikeem played really well. They’ve been wanting minutes. I just didn’t feel like I could get them minutes, but I put both of them out there tonight. I think they played really well.”

A few defensive lapses from the Seahawks let Northside take control early on. The Panthers got quick layups from Jonathan Clark and Tyler Turner to fuel a 6-0 lead out of the gate. Will Warren trimmed it back down with a 3-pointer and layup.

Northside turned a 1-point game into an 11-point lead in no time at all thanks to baskets from Clark, Rashod Smith and Braeden Cooper. The surge gave the home side a 20-7 lead after eight minutes.

Clark continued to build momentum with a dunk — his first of two in the game — early in the second. Southside climbed back into it thanks to the ability of guards Demetrius Ebron and Zack Green to get to the basket. That brought Southside as close as 26-16 with 3:50 left until halftime.

“We were slowing the ball game down,” Southside coach Sean White said. “We weren’t getting back on defense. We weren’t slowing down and we weren’t working it around. … We cut it to 10, but then the same thing — they just stretched it out a little bit there at halftime.”

Then the Panthers found their stroke from long range. Smith scored six of his 16 in quick succession when he hit 3s from alternate wings. He then found Parker Boyd wide open in the post for an easy layup to give the Panthers a 38-22 advantage at the end of the half.

The perimeter barrage continued in the second half when Cooper knocked down a trio of them thanks to some creative playmaking by Smith. The third pushed Northside’s lead to 64-34, all but putting the game away.

“We just need to get Braeden’s shot back on,” Proctor said. “Tonight, he was back on. That’s one of the things we want to do. We want to get Braeden going again because he’s been off a bit the last few games.”

Jaleel Coffey nailed a trey late in the third, but the Seahawks still faced a 69-41 deficit.

Northside largely looked to its bench in the fourth. Boseman and Alex Daleo hit from long range. Ebron and Green shot well from behind the arc, but the Seahawks couldn’t fire their way back into the game.