PINETOWN — A cold December night got a little extra chilly inside the Northside High School gym as the Panthers offense went frigid during their 61-41 loss to Currituck in the championship game of the Northside Christmas tournament on Saturday.
“We were a little cold tonight because some of our players didn’t play (Friday night),” Northside coach Michelle Leathers said. “We didn’t defend like we normally defend and we didn’t knock down our free throws. I don’t know how many free throws we missed but that was a big difference in the game.”
The Panthers kept pace with Currituck early as a late bucket by Alex Adams gave them a 13-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Adams would score again to start the second and put the team up 15-11, but the tide turned when center Jordan Woolard got into early foul trouble.
The Lady Knights exploited Northside in the paint as center Kayla Powell scored seven of her game-high 20 points in the second quarter as Currituck went on a 13-3 run that put it ahead 24-18 after an Amanda Gerni three.
“That was kind of the turning point when (Woolard) got in foul trouble,” Northside coach Michelle Leathers said. “She just had a bit of a mental breakdown and got in foul trouble. She felt like she couldn’t defend how she wanted.”
Northside went into halftime down 29-21 but its offense bogged down in the third as it managed only six points in eight minutes. As a result, the Panthers opened up the fourth quarter trailing 40-27.
The Panthers offense flickered at times in the fourth but could not burn bright enough to take down the Knights.
Some key baskets by Adams and forward Kelsey Lang cut the Lady Knights lead to 46-35 with six minutes to go but Currituck clamped down to win the tourney title.
Leathers praised the effort of Lang after the game.
“Lang came in and hit a few big shots and I’ve been getting on her to take some more shots,” Leathers said. “We just have to keep defending and playing hard.”

Currituck     11    18    11    21    —    61
Northside    13    8    6    14    —    41
Lady Knights (61)
Kayla Powell 20, Megan Sample 10, Matulewitz 9, Amanda Gerni 14, Owens 4, Harlow 1.
Panthers (41)
Alex Adams 10, Franks 4, Slade 7, Lang 7, Clark 2, Woolard 7, Whitney 1, Holmes 2.