PINETOWN — Fourth quarter collapses have become an all-too familiar theme for the Washington boys’ basketball team through the last two seasons. It was Northside’s turn Tuesday night to add to the Pam Pack’s late-game struggles, as precision shooting from the charity stripe lifted the Panthers over the Pam Pack, 66-58.

Despite Washington’s 1-10 record entering the contest, Northside head coach Mike Proctor refused to take the cross-county rival lightly and his team, which boasted a 9-2 record, subsequently played catch up through the first three quarters.

“It’s just a rivalry. I don’t care how many games they’ve won,” Proctor said. “They’re going to come down here, play hard and compete and they did that tonight. We didn’t play well, but we played hard. Again, if we don’t hit shots to help (Edrice Adebayo), it shows and he becomes our only offense.”

Adebayo, who is among the nation’s best, averaging more than 30 points and 21 rebounds a game, was limited by the Pam Pack defense in the first quarter, but solid rebounding from the guard positions, carried by Greene Ikeem, prevented Washington from opening up a big lead. Timely shots from Sharwon Staton and Matthew Holloway propelled the Pam Pack to a 14-10 lead after 10 minutes of play.

In the second quarter, Adebayo was finally able to capitalize in the paint, throwing down a pair of monster dunks and forcing the visitors to settle for outside jumpers. However, the Pam Pack converted from range, as Kaleb Spencer and John Whitley matched Adebayo’s production. Washington preserved an uncomfortable 29-26 lead at the half.

“We moved the ball pretty well and got good shots, we just weren’t making them,” Proctor said. “Reggie (Slade) had a lot of good looks under the basket and missed. If we would have made some of them, we would have loosened up. Sometimes if the other guys don’t make shots, they tense up a little bit. But hey, (the guards) kept through until the end and helped us win.”

Washington continued to hit jumpers out of the break and apply a corner trap on Adebayo. While the Northside center was able to work his way out of trouble, scoring seven in the third quarter, Ikeem provided the only other offense, allowing the Pam Pack enough leeway to maintain its lead.

But Washington eventually stuck to the script and, at least offensively, folded in the final eight minutes. The guards became lackadaisical on the perimeter, giving Dalton Etheridge and Jabari Ashe open looks from the perimeter, while Adebayo easily worked his way to the charity stripe, where he convert 8-of-8 shots.

The Pam Pack was outscored 23-9 in the fourth quarter en route to its 10th consecutive loss.

When the dust settled, Adebayo finished with a game-high 33 points, seven blocks and six rebounds, while Ikeem notched 11 points and nine rebounds.

For Washington, Whitley led his team with 18 points. Staton and Spencer finished with 10 points each.

The Pam Pack will look to pick up its first Eastern Plains Conference win when it travels to Kenly on Friday to take on North Johnston (3-12, 0-3 EPC). Northside will host Lejeune (4-10, 1-3 CPC).