Northside learns lessons from Lawrence Academy wins

Published 11:36 pm Thursday, January 2, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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YEATESVILLE, N.C. — Northside’s basketball teams eased back into regular-season play on Monday and picked up a thing or two along the way.

The Panthers began the week with victories over Lawrence Academy ahead of Friday’s non-conference games with Bear Grass. Another week of non-conference games will give way to the Coastal Plains Conference opener against Southside on Jan. 14.

Northside’s girls did not play any games during the Christmas break, while the boys went to the Virginia Hoopfest Showcase Series in Franklin, Va., dropping a 78-50 decision to Norfolk Collegiate. So when both of the Panthers’ teams played on Monday, they each got something out of their performances.

For the girls’ team, they had to endure turnovers and foul trouble — something they usually get their opponents into during a game. They came away with a 57-49 win. For the boys’ team, a somewhat slow start turned around with a big second quarter that put the game out of reach quickly in an 84-70 win over Lawrence.

That was a problem Northside ran into against Norfolk Collegiate and never recovered.

“Really to come out with energy and just right off the bat, because we came out a little sluggish (against Norfolk Collegiate), and we drove two hours, so we didn’t come out as much energy,” senior Max Vansant said about what the Panthers learned in their loss.

“(Monday night) we did. We were all out on the bench.”

Northside (7-2) used a 20-0 run that stretched from the last two minutes of the first quarter into the first three minutes of the second quarter. A putback by Malachi Moore and an offensive rebound and putback by Memphis Keech put Northside ahead to stay at 13-12 with 1:19 left in the opening quarter.

Lawrence called time before Nick Moore grabbed a missed 3-pointer by Chase Hewitt and threw down a two-handed slam for a 25-12 lead.

“So they were playing extended, so we were really trying to attack the middle and let our big guys work,” said Vansant, who finished with 14 points. “And Malachi was doing a good job attacking the gaps. And whenever Nick gets a dunk, it changes the energy. It really plays in our favor.”

Northside’s lead grew to over 25 points at one point as everyone eventually got into the game. Malachi Moore led the way with 22 points while Nick Moore added 12.

“When we went to Virginia, we got to a slow start, costly turnovers,” Northside coach Jared Adams said. “We watched some film, we had a little shoot around (Monday) morning, and we kind of critiqued on some things and worked on some things.

“And this game here, we kind of started off a little slow for us. Once we got settled in and played within ourselves and quit forcing the basketball, we were getting transition, getting to our sets, and played three and a half quarters of solid basketball.”

Northside’s girls (9-0) had a hard time shaking a determined Lawrence team but were able to put things together in the decisive third quarter. Before that, fouls and turnovers aggravated the Panthers and head coach Michelle Leathers. Sophie Berry, O.J. Cahoon, Keniyah Whitley and Tetianna Moore each played with two fouls in the first half as Northside led 27-26 at the break.

“Yeah, it started working in the third quarter,” Leathers said. “We still wanted to continue to put some pressure. I felt like we really, we’re missing (center) Madison Scheffler (on a church holiday trip), you know? That would have made a big difference: rebound, put the ball back in. So that would definitely have made a difference in the team.”

Cahoon had 11 points in the third as Northside pulled away, using its pressure defense to create turnovers that led to layups and a 46-33 lead going into the fourth quarter. Lawrence got to within 46-45 with 4:18 left but Northside turned up the heat again and finished with a 7-1 run.

“Yeah, well, normally I’m used to always getting in foul trouble, everybody, the whole team. But I mean, it’s nothing really because we got a full team of girls that will just have your back,” said sophomore guard Sophie Berry, who finished with eight points and helped create a lot of Lawrence’s turnovers.

“I think we just came out more ready (in the third quarter), and we were prepared because we saw them the first half. And we were just more ready to go. But I mean, we definitely needed this game, for sure, to help us.”

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