CHOCOWINITY — The second time around certainly wasn’t as easy for Northside.

The Panthers did get a combined 74 points from Rashod Smith, Jonathan Clark and Bryson Radcliffe in a 91-74 win over Southside Monday. Northside defeated Southside 103-58 on Dec. 18 at the Northside Holiday Tournament, but had to hold off the Seahawks on numerous occasions to get this 1-A Coastal Plains Conference victory.

“(Southside) hit some threes and we didn’t play defense as well in the second half,” Northside coach Michael Proctor said. “We were still able to withstand their runs and come out with a win, which I’m happy about.”

Northside hit its first six shots on the way to a 15-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Southside would fall behind 24-16 after one and 13 early in the second, but Demitrius Ebron scored seven points in a 12-2 run to bring the Seahawks within three with 4:27 left in the half. The Panthers would then score 14 unanswered, punctuated by a vicious one-handed dunk from Clark, to eventually take a 45-30 halftime lead.

The Seahawks refused to wilt, clawing back into the game by hitting six of their first eight shots after halftime. Jaleel Coffee would hit consecutive threes to get Southside within single digits.

Zack Green’s bucket with 3:21 left in the quarter had the team within 51-48. Radcliffe would answer with a 3-pointer, sparking a 14-2 run to put Northside ahead by 15 again as the team would eventually go ahead 67-55 heading into the fourth.

“We had to get through some adversity (in the third) and get back to our fast pace,” Smith said.

The Seahawks had one final run in them, getting within 75-67 on a pair of Will Warren free throws with 4:58 to play, but the team would get no closer.

Southside coach Sean White said the team showcased a lot of grit.

“It was one of the best games we’ve played all year,” White said. “We’re a young team and don’t have as much experience, but we’re at the point of the season where we’re starting to click more.

“I hate it’s happening toward the end of the season, but there are a lot of positive things I can take from this game. We’ve got to get better defensively, but on offense we didn’t give up and made strides against a team who beat us by 45 last time.”

For Northside, Smith had 29, Clark added 25 and Radcliffe chipped in 20. For Southside, Ebron led the way with 20, Green had 17, and Warren and Ivory Moore each scored 10.

The two Beaufort County rivals are set to finish their home-and-home series Friday night in Pinetown. Before then, Southside traveled to Riverside and Northside ventured out to Tarboro on Tuesday.