The East Carteret men’s basketball team preserved their undefeated record in the semi-finals of the 1A Conference 11 tournament with a win over fourth-seed Southside, 96-74.

The Seahawks entered Wednesday’s matchup as clear underdogs, coming off a 34-point loss to the same Mariners team just five days prior.  After a closely contested six-point win over Jones Senior in the first round on Monday, head coach Sean White’s squad needed to play its best game of the season against Class 1A’s top team.

The Seahawks’ defense kept them in the game through the first quarter, holding the Mariners’ dynamic offense to just 13 points. However, similar to the last time these teams matched up, Southside was unable to maintain the intensity over the final 24 minutes.

Despite an uncharacteristically slow start, East Carteret exploded in the second half. Head coach Billy Anderson’s team finished with four players in double figures, including sophomore guard Trevor Willis who finished with a team-high 21 points. Junior guards Jacque Brown and Sam Johnson also finished with 17 points apiece.

For Southside, Donshae Miller, the 5-foot-9 junior point guard who’s stepped up to lead the Seahawks this season, finished his 2013-2014 campaign strong with a game-high 26 points. Isiah Moore finished with 22 points, while Rashaun Moore ended with 20. Miller and Isiah and Rashaun Moore would combine to score 92 percent of their team’s points.

With the win, East Carteret improves to a perfect 25-0 on the year and moves on to the 1A Conference 11 finals to face the winner of Friday night’s semi-final game featuring Northside and Pamlico County.

The game is scheduled to tip-off around 7:30 p.m. immediately following the girls’ conference finals game.