PINETOWN — There was some concern going into Friday’s showdown between Northside and Southside. The Panthers hadn’t been on the court much since their game a week prior. Instead of taking time to settle in, it was apparent that they were itching to get back on the court in their 76-63 win over the Seahawks.

Jabari Ashe set the tone early. He scored the game’s first basket on a 3-pointer and Braeden Cooper followed up with a baseline layup to give Northside a quick 5-0 lead. Bryson Radcliffe, the Panthers’ 6-foot-4 forward, extended it to 11-4 with back-to-back makes from beyond the arc.

“I felt like we were ready to go,” Northside coach Mike Proctor said. “We could have used some practice time this week, which we didn’t have. … It’s Southside, a big rivalry game, and I felt we were ready. We came out ready to play. We had some good performances from some guys who stepped up.”

As if Radcliffe didn’t spread the court enough, 6-foot-4 center Atia Shamseldin added two treys of his own early in the second quarter. James Barrow made a layup in transition right after to put the Panthers ahead 25-14.

It was just about the last thing that Southside coach Sean White and the Seahawks expected going into the game. It forced a lot of defensive changes early on as White tried to find something that fit.

“Looking at their stats and scouting, the ones that were hot in the game tonight were not the ones when we scouted them that we needed to cover,” White said. “We came out in man-to-man to stop it because we started out in our zone and they were hitting them. We changed defenses probably three times in a couple minutes’ span.

“There’s always that one night when nothing you do is going to work. This is it.”

Besides the big men getting involved from beyond the arc, the Seahawks were most surprised by Ikeem Greene’s quiet evening. Northside’s prolific scorer entered the contest averaging 17.5 points a game, but didn’t add much to the scoreboard other than a pair of 3’s in the second half.

“Ikeem just didn’t have a great offensive game,” Proctor said. “He doesn’t care. The first thing he said in (the locker room) was, ‘Guys, we played great.’ Ikeem isn’t worried about points. He just wants to do what will help us win.”

The Panthers’ offense didn’t explode much in the second half. They were, however, able to keep the Seahawks at bay. Every time they’d climb back into it, a Panther would answer with a basket to push them back again.

“We were having to work a little bit harder to get the points we were getting,” White said. “That’s one thing we’ve got to do better. And, obviously, our guys weren’t hitting from outside. … When we’re not hitting our outside shots and they are, it’s going to be a long run.”

The necessity to keep some distance was never lost on Northside. The Panthers were well aware of the caliber of shooters opposite of them. They knew they had to hang on to a decent lead.

“We had to. (Johnny Sullivan) can shoot, (Donshae) Tatum can shoot,” Proctor said. “They can shoot it so well, so we had to keep that lead and that distance. … We played with a lot of energy. The intensity we put on the perimeter and we didn’t let them beat us off the dribble.”

Northside closed out about as well as it started off. Ashe, Barrow and Radcliffe all had dazzling finishes at the rim and Greene drained a 3-pointer to give their side a cushion for a pair of late treys by Southside.

The win is the Panthers’ third in league play and moves them into the upper half of the standings. They stay at home for non-conference meetings with First Flight and Manteo on back-to-back days before hosting Bear Grass.

The Seahawks don’t plan on going back to the drawing board. They shouldn’t feel the need to, either, because they have still won three of their last five. They will travel to Bear Grass on Jan. 22.