This is an exciting time of year for high school basketball. Last week marked the end of the regular season for Washington, Northside and Southside. Pungo and Terra Ceia already began their foray into the postseason.

Conference tournaments are a thrilling culmination to the season. Oftentimes they provide the stage for rivalry matchups that may have already played out during the regular season. The win-or-go home stipulation adds an extra twist by summoning extra grit and resilience in the players.

The first of those bonus rivalry games takes place Monday evening at Southside. The Seahawks, who have already been slated to host the 1-A Coastal Plains Conference tournament, earned the higher seed over Northside by beating the Panthers on Thursday. The two will meet for a third time this year in their first-round matchup.

In their most recent meeting, Southside beat Northside pretty handedly after going up 21-6 at the beginning of the game.

Northside took the first meeting between the two back on Jan. 15. Pat Coffey and Donshae Tatum each scored 20 points, but the Panthers had three players score in double figures. Bryson Radcliffe led the charge with 24 points and Atia Shamseldin added another 14 in what was an exceptional showing from their frontcourt.

One difference maker for Southside between that game and the season finale against Northside was the addition of Shondrea Rolan. He and Tatum proved to be too much to handle on the glass on Thursday. The Seahawks will likely use a similar formula on Monday.

The girls get going this week, too. The Lady Seahawks travel to Jones Senior on Tuesday. The Lady Panthers’ matchup is to be decided.

Washington capped off its regular season Thursday at North Johnston. Sharwan Staton scored 14 points and dished out four assists to help the Pam Pack beat North Johnston 75-53. It was the team’s third 2-A Eastern Plains Conference win of the season.

The Lady Pack fell to North Johnston, 45-37. The loss puts the girls, who were second in the league not too long ago, in a logjam in the middle of the standings.

Matchups for the boys and girls hinged on Saturday’s postponed Farmville Central vs. North Pitt games.

The Tarheel Independent Conference tournament got underway last week. Terra Ceia and Pungo each won their games with the Knights defeating Northeast and Pungo beating Hobgood. The two have had some of this season’s best showdowns and may have a tournament clash looming ahead.

Pungo’s girls knocked Terra Ceia out with a 63-48 win. The Lady Knights were in trouble after Catherine Meijer picked up a pair of early fouls and ended up fouling out. Taylor Mann got about whatever she wanted after that as the Lady Raiders cruised to the win.

The excitement only ramps up from here. Conference tournaments mean that the playoffs aren’t too far away.