PINETOWN — A dominant fourth quarter by Northside allowed it to put the ribbon on its first Northside Christmas tournament title with a 61-55 victory over Currituck on Saturday.
The Panthers (9-1) entered the final stanza trailing 44-39 but was able to overtake the Knights by outscoring them 22-9 in the final eight minutes. Northside’s tandem of Antonio Woods and Edrice Adebayo were sensational late in the game as they combined for 17 fourth-quarter points to allow the Panthers to go into the holiday  break with some momentum.
“I’m happy that we worked our way back into it and won the game,” Northside coach Mike Proctor said. “We played pretty sloppy at times but we hung on and found a way to win.”
The Panthers got back into it thanks to some key plays on the defensive end by Woods and some big time buckets in the paint by Adebayo.
After Adebayo converted a three-point play to bring the Panthers within one of the Knights, Woods put them over the hump when he made a steal at mid-court and dashed toward the basket for an easy layup to take a 45-44 lead. Woods would do it again a minute later to extend their advantage to 48-44 with six minutes left in the game.
“He played really good defensively and got some steals and some layups,” Proctor said of Woods. “He had a really, really solid basketball game.”
Woods would finish the game with 23 points, while Adebayo scored 22. Both players also come up with some big time blocks.
The Knights, who were led by Kyle Spruill’s 19 points, trailed 14-11 after the first but outscored Northside 18-12 in the second to take a 29-26 halftime lead.
Spruill would score seven third-quarter points to put Currituck ahead 44-39 after three quarters. The Panthers defense stepped up in the late stages of the game to bailout a halfcourt offense that struggled at times against the Knights.
Proctor said the key to Northside’s victory is that the players are starting to better understand what’s being asked of them.
“The guys are finally realizing what their roles where and I think that helped us,” Proctor said. “Then, everybody defended. We had a heart-to-heart at halftime and they decided it was time to defend.
“It was nice to get that win because if we would have gone into the break having lost to Plymouth (and Currituck) it would have left a sour taste in our mouth so it was really, really good to get this win.”

Currituck    11    18    15    9    —    55
Northside    14    12    14    22    —    61
Knights (55)
Foreman 4, Kyle Spruill 19, Huff 2, Woodley 7, Walton 3, Ferebee 3, Alex Sample 11, Powell 2.
Panthers (61)
Antonio Woods 23, Edrice Adebayo 22, Arthur 6, Slade 6, Washington 2.