PINETOWN — Sharp guard play and an expressive 40-point, 23-rebound, four-block performance from center Edrice “Bam” Adebayo comfortably lifted Northside to an 86-68 win over Northampton County in Round 1 of the NCHSAA 1-A state tournament on Saturday.

Finally dodging what’s been an onslaught of winter storms, weather that forced the first round game to be rescheduled four times, Northside didn’t skip a beat in what should have been a difficult matchup against a team with a distinct height advantage.

Northampton County, which finished third in the Two Rivers Conference with an overall record of 10-14, leaned on its 6-foot-5 sophomore Jaquan Miles throughout the contest to keep Adebayo honest in the paint.

“They were tall, so we knew we had to fight,” head coach Mike Proctor said after the game. “I felt like we played together and we weren’t very sluggish, mostly because we’ve had some good practices the last couple of days … We let them get to the paint too much and didn’t contest enough of (Miles’) shots, but overall I think we did well.”

On top of Adebayo’s nearly untouchable stat line, senior sharpshooter Dalton Etheridge also had a quietly productive night, chipping in 15 points and four assists.

But in the end, however, it was Northside’s execution of its 1-3-1 defense that prevented most of the penetration from reaching the key and frustrated the Jaguar bigs.

After a competitive first quarter, a 25-point offensive explosion in the second widened the lead to 10 points heading into half time. Adebayo had 17 points by the break.

“He came over one time and said, ‘They can’t guard me,’” Proctor recalled. “I said, ‘Bam, no one in the state can guard you.’ He’s our go-to guy, our glue, but we have to have some help in order to win. He’s the best player in the state.”

In an attempt to speed up the Panthers, Northampton County employed a short-corner trap that temporarily disturbed an offense that had been operating flawlessly for the last 16 minutes. After a couple of turnovers to open the third quarter, Proctor called timeout, adjusted the offense so guards Jabari Ashe and Ikeem Greene would avoid being drawn to the corners. It worked and with about four minutes left in the game, a 20-plus-point lead allowed some of Proctor’s jayvee players to make their first varsity appearances.

For Northampton County, Miles finished with a team-high 33 points, while senior Barkim Moses recorded 17 points and 12 boards.

Other notable Panthers scorers were Greene with eight points, Ashe with seven and Reggie Slade with six. For Adebayo, it’s the fifth time this season he’s finished with 40 or more points and the double-double marks his 21st in 22 games this season.

With the win, Northside improves to 18-4 and has now won six-straight entering the second round of the 1-A state playoffs, where the Panthers will travel to Gatesville on Monday to take on No. 1-seeded Gates County.

“I know they’re tough. You go 20-3 and you have to be good,” Proctor said. “We’ll just go up, see what they got and give them our best.”

Gatesville County enters Round 2 having won its last 12 games. The Red Barons finished the regular season with a 20-3 record and Coastal 10 Conference championship.