Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Northside High School’s boys and girls basketball teams emerged as the only winners involving Beaufort County schools during Tuesday’s first round of the NC High School Athletic Association state playoffs.

The night’s surprise came as Washington’s boys, the No. 13 seed in Class 2A, fell at home to Eastern Plains Conference foe Greene Central, the No. 20 seed, 64-60. The loss ended Washington’s season at 19-7.

Northside’s boys, the No. 13 seed, rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat North Duplin, the No. 20 seed, 82-67. The Panthers (21-5) will travel to Durham to face No. 4 seed Voyager Academy on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. game. Voyager (21-5) beat No. 25 Pender County, 83-58.

Northside’s girls (26-1), the No. 3 seed, overcame a slow start and some poor shooting to overtake No. 30 Rosewood, 60-23. The Panthers will take on No. 19 Washington County (12-10), which won at No. 14 Lakewood, 72-67. That game will be played Friday at 6 p.m. at Northside.

Southside’s girls, the No. 24 seed, lost at No. 9 Chatham Central, 69-34. The Seahawks ended their season at 14-10.

Greene Central 64, Washington 60

The Pam Pack led 28-26 at the half but never were able to pull away, especially in the third quarter as they have done against opponents so many times this season.

Washington’s Chaise Smith made two free throws to give the Pam Pack a 30-26 lead early in the third quarter. Washington could never build a lead bigger than that before the Rams took a 42-41 lead on a basket by Mike Suggs.

The Rams pushed the lead to 51-44 on a basket by Joshua Cetnar with just over six minutes left. Jarryn Payne’s basket with around four minutes left allowed Washington to get within 55-52. The Pam Pack then took a 58-57 lead on a 3-pointer by Jacob Daniels with just over two minutes left.

However, Nick Avent made a basket to give the Rams a 59-58 lead they would never give up. Washington got with one at 61-60 on two free throws by Smith, but Cetnar made three of four free throws in the final seconds to complete the upset.

The home loss was just the second of the season for Washington. The other came against EPC champion Farmville Central.

Northside boys 82, North Duplin 67

The Panthers had one of their most complete and emotional comebacks of the season after trailing 25-8 late in the first quarter. The Rebels scored eight straight in just over a minute, forcing the Panthers to take a timeout with 36 seconds left.

North Duplin (11-12) kept at it and maintained a double-digit lead until late in the first half. Northside was able to chip it to 36-30 at the half after baskets by Zi’mier Alexander and Malachi Moore.

Moore scored his 1,000th point after hitting two free throws with 5:51 left in the first half. He had seven of Northside’s 20 points to lead the way. His scoring in the third quarter was part of the reason the Panthers were able to eventually take the lead.

Northside used a 13-2 stretch in a two-plus minute stretch of the third quarter to take the lead for good. Memphis Keech scored six straight points, Kevin Berrelleza hit a runner in the lane and Landon Moore nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner to give the Panthers a 53-45 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Moore had 11 points while Max Vansant and Alexander each scored six points. However, the statement came with just under four minutes left. Both teams were scrambling for a rebound when Nick Moore caught the ball and slammed it home with two hands for a 68-58 lead. It set off a wild celebration and marked the first time in the game the Panthers led by double digits.

Malachi Moore led Northside with 25 points while Alexander had 14 and Vansant had 13. Northside struggled at the free throw line, connecting on just 18 of 38.

North Duplin’s Donavan Armwood led all scorers with 26.

Northside’s girls 60, Rosewood 23

Rosewood looked like the better team for most of the first quarter before the Panthers eventually got it going.

The Eagles (8-16) led 10-0 with 2:18 left in the opening quarter as Northside missed its first seven shots and turned the ball over four times before O.J. Cahoon hit the first of two free throws with 2:08 left.

Northside shot just 1-for-10 in the first quarter and was only 9-for-36 from the floor in the first half. However, the Panthers forced Rosewood into 15 first-half turnovers and just two points in the second quarter after the Eagles led 10-5 after the first quarter.

Cahoon did her part with 11 second-quarter points, including a big 3-pointer, and helped spark the Panthers. Defensively, Northside forced Rosewood into six turnovers and a missed basket on its first seven possessions of the second quarter. Baskets off turnovers by Brooke Harding and Sophie Berry gave Northside a 15-10 lead with 5:10 left in the first half and woke up a Panthers crowd who were sitting on pins and needles, waiting for something to happen.

Berry’s free throw after her basket completed a 3-point play and forced Rosewood into a timeout. Northside stretched the lead to 27-12 at the half.

Cahoon, who had a game-high 35 points, scored 11 points in the third quarter, connecting on her second 3-pointer after converting a coast-to-coast layup off a rebound that forced Rosewood into another timeout with 4:13 left in the third. The Eagles had just six points in the third and none in the final 3:42.