By LAIEKE ABEBE

For the Daily News

FARMVILLE — Despite keeping Friday night’s game close for two and a half quarters, Northside was ultimately unable to keep up with undefeated Farmville Central, as the Panthers saw their five-point halftime deficit grow from six points to 19 by the end of the third quarter in a 106-80 loss.

Overall, the first half was very entertaining with both Northside (4-2 1A Coastal Plains Conference) and Farmville Central (9-0 2A Eastern Plains Conference) playing at a high level. Guards Johnathan Clark and Rashod Smith led the way for the Panthers as they kept up with the fast pace of the Jaguars and only trailed 21-19 after the opening quarter. Clark finished with a game-high 33 points and Smith added 26. Although they were able to score at will, the duo didn’t receive much help on the offensive end, as no other Northside player scored more than Zach Green’s nine points.

Adding to the Panthers’ woes, foul trouble came back to bite them in the second half.

“We got into foul trouble and we softened up on defense,” Northside head coach Jared Adams said. “They shot the ball extremely well in the second half. It’s a different story if we could’ve stayed out of foul trouble. I thought our guys played so hard in the first half and we were in a position to do something really big. Farmville Central is a really talented team.”

Justin Wright led the way for the Jaguars, pouring in 32 points, and Terquavion Smith added 25 for head coach Larry Williford’s team. Farmville continued its torrid start to the season, and Williford gave a lot of credit to the Panthers for how well they played.

“I give a lot of credit to Northside,” he said. “Our transition defense wasn’t good in the first half and they took advantage of it. However, we improved a lot in the second half and we hit a lot of quality shots. There was a little bit of a hangover early, but that was because their team played really hard. I’m glad we got the win against a quality opponent.”

Northside returns to action tonight, as it hosts rival Southside in the first day of the Northside Christmas Tournament. The Panthers will be looking to build off of their performance against Farmville Central for what lies ahead.

“I’m glad we gave a good effort,” Adams said. “I’m hoping we can bring some energy to our next few games. We’re going to take some good things from this game. We boxed out well and we were able to get a lot of second-chance points. There are a lot of great leaders on this team and we played with a lot of effort.”

Tipoff for Northside’s showdown with the Seahawks is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., following the game-one matchup between Washington and Washington County.