ROBERSONVILLE — Southside and South Creek tipped off an hour late after Princeton and Edenton went to five overtimes, but the Lady Seahawks showed no signs lethargy in the first quarter.

They jumped out with 15 unanswered points to begin the game. Symone Ruffin struck first with a mid-range jumper, and Danielle Ruffin took over with three straight buckets. She knocked down a 3-pointer and then got a slick dish from Michaela Dixon, which she laid into the basket.

It gave Southside a 9-0 lead with 5:12 left in the first, prompting South Creek to call a timeout. The Lady Seahawks built a 15-0 lead before the Lady Cougars got on the board with a minute and a half left in the opening period.

“We talked about defense,” Southside coach Milton Ruffin said. “Made sure we played man-to-man, and we wanted to turn them over to get a lot of transition baskets.”

Southside got off to a hot start with three straight baskets in the second, too. Precious Gaynor found Ruffin for an easy layup, giving their side a 23-6 lead with 5:24 left in the half, and provoking another timeout for the hosting Lady Cougars.

Coming out of the short break, South Creek strung together consecutive baskets for only the second time in the game. Raigan Evans used her strength in the paint to get back-to-back layups, but Gaynor got one of her own with 30 second left to give Southside a 25-10 lead going into halftime.

Swarming defense turned into easy baskets for the Lady Seahawks. They moved quickly in their transition opportunities. They also spent plenty of time on South Creek’s side of the court, moving the ball around well in their halfcourt offense.

 

“We wanted to score a lot of points on defense, but our offense (in the) halfcourt has gotten better,” Ruffin said. “… We have a saying, ‘Don’t let the ball stick.’ That’s why the ball movement was what it was. That’s something we worked on last year, and it flowed into this year.”

Southside kept rolling in the third to take a 17-point lead into the fourth, but got a bit complacent from there. South Creek only scored 18 points in the 24 minutes prior, but poured in 15 in the final period.

“It’s all about losing focus. You’ve got to play four quarters,” Ruffin said. “There are 13 girls and they all have to do their jobs. That’s why I played all of them — to make sure they all played hard, and they’re on the same page.”

It proved inconsequential, though. The Lady Seahawks overwhelmed the homestanding Lady Cougars from the get go. The win evened their record at 1-1, and was a big step in building momentum for when they start 1-A Coastal Plains Conference play in the New Year.