COUNTY COACH-OF-THE-YEAR

MICHAEL PROCTOR, NORTHSIDE

ROGER KLAASSEN, TERRA CEIA

Northside’s Michael Proctor and Terra Ceia’s Roger Klaassen are the Washington Daily News Co-Coach-of-the-Year award winners for their coaching style, sportsmanship and teams’ success during the 2013-2014 basketball season.

The Panthers ended the season with a 21-5 overall record and finished second in a top-heavy 1A Conference 11 standings. Their season was cut short by the East’s No. 1 team, East Carteret, in the second round of the state tournament.

For the second-straight season, Proctor was graced with one of the top talents in the area, Edrice Adebayo, and built the offense around him. The result was points in the paint and W’s in the win column.

For Klaassen, Terra Ceia began the season sluggish and out of sync, losing to Pope John Paul II, a team that would finish with just six wins, and Oakwood, a team that ended with a 7-12 record. When conference play came around in early December, rival Pungo Christian established its dominance by winning its first seven Tarheel Conference games. In the Knights first meeting with the Raiders, they would lose 67-57.

However, the Knights rallied around Klaassen and went on a miraculous tournament run, beating Lawrence, Pungo and eventually Hobgood in the Tarheel Conference Tournament championship game.

BOYS COUNTY PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR

EDRICE ADEBAYO, SO., NORTHSIDE

Northside’s Edrice Adebayo had one of the most dominant seasons in Northside history this year, averaging 24.3 points. 18.2 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game—all of which led the Coastal Plains Conference.

The Northside center developed the ability to handle the ball in the backcourt as the season progressed. On occasion, Proctor even had his big man running the offense.

While Adebayo’s statistics speak for themselves, the most impressive feat may be his maturation from freshman into team-leading sophomore. Intimidating height aside, Adebayo was a vocal presence during the majority of Northside’s timeout huddles, and was the team’s No. 1 motivator on the floor during games.

GIRLS COUNTY PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR

ALEX ADAMS, JR., NORTHSIDE

Northside guard Alex Adams did a little bit of everything for the Panthers this season. The undisputed leader of her team, Adams missed a few games in the middle of the season from a bruised knee, but battled through the injury to close the year out strong with a state tournament appearance.

Adams has the ability to rebound the basketball, shoot from range and drive the lane—the only player on Northside capable of getting it done in all of those areas.

Defensively, there’s no one more hard-nosed on her team and likely the entire conference. She’s the first one to get back on defense and the first one to pick the opponent’s pocket in the half-court trap.

Her leadership and unremitting effort every game earned her Beaufort County Player-of-the-Year honors.