By Jordan Honeycutt

New Bern Sun Journal Staff

BAYBORO – It was a battle for second place in the Coastal Plains Conference Friday night when Pamlico hosted the Northside Panthers.

A slow start by the ‘Canes and poor perimeter shooting helped lead Northside to a 59-52 win. The teams are tied for second and will determine seeding for the conference tournament off a coin flip.

“I thought we just didn’t shoot the ball well at all tonight,” Pamlico coach Earl Sadler said. “We weren’t sharp in practice and I warned the guys that they may get their feelings hurt in the coming weeks if we don’t sure some things up. I didn’t like our passing tonight either along with our shooting.”

The Hurricanes are 14-6 overall and 8-3 in the CPC. Bradley Bennett (16 points) and Arthur Randall (14) were the only Hurricanes in double-figures.

As for the visitors, Northside (19-3, 9-3) coach Mike Proctor said he thought the biggest difference this time for his Panthers was their level of play on the defensive end. “We played a lot better defensively tonight than we did at our place when (Pamlico) beat us,” Proctor said. “Of course, they also shot the ball a whole lot better that first time as well. “

The Hurricanes were pretty much relegated to shooting from the perimeter because of the shot-blocking threat of Northside center Edrrice “Bam Bam” Adebayo. Adebayo is 6-foot-8 and ranked No. 12 in the ESPN Top 25 for the Class of 2016. He scored 23 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and swatted away six Pamlico shots.

“(Bam Bam) controls the paint for us and he did that tonight,” Proctor said.

Sadler said he felt Adebayo’s early defensive play forced Pamlico to miss some layups and everything tightened up after that.

“It was tight, we rushed and forced some shots that we normally make,” he said. “We’ll get back in the gym tomorrow and work on getting ready for Lejeune Monday night and the conference tournament.”

The CPC tournament gets underway Tuesday night with the semifinals being played Thursday and the championship game Friday.