CHOCOWINITY — Southside’s run in the 1-A Coastal Plains Conference tournament came to an end Wednesday. The Lady Seahawks were downed, 68-27, by last year’s 1-A runner up Pamlico County.

The Lady Hurricanes are the CPC’s unstoppable force and appear to be on a warpath back to the 1-A championship game. They took it to Southside by locking down senior guard Symone Ruffin and holding her to just eight points.

It’s something Ruffin has grown used to. She scored her 1,000th career point in a win over Bear Grass in Southside’s Feb. 10 regular-season finale. Long before that milestone, though, Ruffin has been the focus of defenses for years.

“All the players were excited for her,” head coach Milton Ruffin said. “Especially me. Coach Bill Lake coached her during her freshman year. I’ve been on the bench with her this whole time. She had put in the work during practice and hasn’t missed one game for anything.

“It’s an exciting moment for me and for the fans at Southside. … (Lake) would have jumped up, gave her a big hug, and told her good job.”

The senior Lady Seahawk takes pride in the accomplishment. She’s modest, though. The benchmark doesn’t compare to some of the team-oriented goals she still has left. If anything, she likes having this target on her back because it opens things up for her teammates.

Underclassmen Shantel Cannon and Laquisha Woolard are among the team’s top-four scorers because of Ruffin’s presence on the floor. She also has 121 steals on the season, which fuels a fast-paced offense for the Lady Seahawk guards. Her 64 assists have helped with an inside-out offense that utilizes fellow senior Michaela Dixon well.

But that was all in the regular season. Southside now awaits for the NCHSAA to announce Saturday the first-round pairings for the playoffs. The team knows it is prepared based on the ringer it’s gone through in the CPC. The Lady Seahawks have hit a stride and are ready to see what they can do.

“We’re very hype about going to the playoffs because we’re playing good together,” Ruffin said. She played in her first playoff game last year. There are nine freshman set to make their postseason debuts this coming week, should Southside earn a berth.

“That’s what it’s all about. That’s why you play the regular season,” Milton Ruffin said. “That’s why you put in the hard work to get to this point. No one has won a ball game in the state playoffs. Anything can happen, so you take all the momentum and the hard work and apply it to that one game. Leave everything on the court.”

Southside was bounced in the first round last season. It squeaked in and fell at Princeton, 56-48. The Lady Seahawks took a little while to find their footing as they only scored 16 points in the first half of that game. They aren’t going to let this opportunity pass them by.

“Last year’s game motivates me a lot to start from the beginning instead of trying to play starting in the second quarter or third quarter,” Symone Ruffin said.