CHOCOWINITY — There was a sense of déjà vu on Monday. Southside met reigning 1-A state champion East Carteret for the second time this season. When they last squared off, it was the Seahawks’ season opener. They had only practiced once before the contest.

A perfect storm of exams and weather backed Southside into a similar situation. Other than a couple of informal shooting sessions, the Seahawks had met just once for practice in the two weeks prior to hosting the Coastal Plains’ top club.

They hung in for a significant amount of the game, but Trevor Willis exploded for 44 points to lead East Carteret to a 77-55 win. Things could have gotten out of hand when Willis knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter. It gave the visiting Mariners a 19-6 lead.

A pair of layups to end the opening period cut Southside’s deficit to single digits, but it was a struggle to keep the Mariners from pulling away. Seahawk guard Pat Coffey and center Donshae Tatum provided a sizeable amount of their team’s offense. The senior duo rose to the occasion when the odds were against them.

Tatum, who finished with 13 points, was active in the paint all night long. He put in back-to-back layups in the second quarter that trimmed East Carteret’s lead to 32-23, putting the game in reach again.

“I had talked to Donshae and told him he had to do more inside,” Southside coach Sean White said. “He’s got the handle, he can play a little bit outside and he’s got his 3-point shot. Especially against a team like this, they’re not really as physical inside. … I told him you need to be a bigger presence inside.”

Coming out of the second half, Coffey scored in transition to make it a five-point game. He would be the only Seahawk to score until after the halfway point of the period. Southside wouldn’t come any closer than two possessions, though.

The Seahawks had done their best to keep East Carteret’s potent offense off balance.

“Our game plan was to switch our defenses every third possession to try and keep them off a rhythm,” White said. “Go zone, man, zone, man. Obviously with Willis, he’s just an outstanding shooter. You can’t leave him open. Even if you’ve got a hand in his face, he’s still a good shooter.”

The Mariners got plenty of opportunities at the free-throw line to build on their lead. They earned 11 points at the stripe in the fourth to put the game away.

“I was pleased. I think we ran out of gas there at the end,” White said. “We got in foul trouble so we were a little timid on defense. We didn’t want to foul out.”

Southside is in the midst of a tough stretch. The Seahawks move on to host another top conference opponent in Jones Senior on Wednesday. Keeping close with East Carteret, coupled with how well they played when the two sides met in Trenton on Dec. 17, gives them plenty of confidence.

“Obviously we’re a better team than we were then,” White said, referencing that first matchup with Jones. “In my opinion, I think we’re one of the better teams in the conference behind them. We just haven’t had the practice and the time on the court to actually get better.

“The things we’re taking away from this is that we hustled and played a lot better. When you’re playing the No. 2 or No. 1 team in the state like East Carteret is in 1-A, and you’re in the game a majority of the game, it’s big. I think it’s a confidence booster that we need going into Wednesday.”