One step closer: Northside girls roll into third round of state playoffs

Published 7:33 pm Saturday, March 1, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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YEATESVILLE, N.C. — Another historic season for the Northside girls basketball team continues to take shape. It was a more resounding victory than the team’s previous win.

Thanks to a complete performance on both sides of the ball, the Panthers rolled to an 83-43 win over Washington County on Friday in the second round of the Class 1A state playoffs. Northside (26-1), winners of 17 straight, will host North Duplin (23-4), the Carolina Conference champs and winners of nine straight, on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

This is the third time since the 2020-21 season the Panthers are in the third round of the state playoffs. The previous two times, Northside lost in the fourth round. This year’s team is trying to avoid that, having won the regular season and the Coastal Plains Conference tournament. It’s the first time that’s happened in three decades.

“Yeah, it’s great that we’re playing at home, said senior center Madison Scheffler, who finished with 16 points and helped the Panthers dominate the boards. “Last time this has happened, it’s like my freshman year, we had this many home games and playoffs and this high of a ranking. So it’s been crazy for all of us.

“I mean, no one thought this would be the team this year to be this high in the rankings. So that’s been the best part about it, and just how we’ve been working together has been a great part of this whole playoff.”

The Panthers opened the state playoffs last Tuesday with a 60-23 win over Rosewood. However, the team struggled at the start, trailing 10-0 late in the first quarter. Holding the Eagles to two points in the second quarter and six in the third put that game out of reach.

After a long postgame locker room discussion and some productive work in the practices following that game, Northside met Washington County (12-11) run for run and then turned up the heat in the second quarter to pull away. Washington County had gone to Lakewood on Tuesday and picked off a 72-67 first-round victory to give them confidence heading into Friday.

“We worked really hard in practice because on Tuesday we came out (down) 10 to nothing, and we didn’t want to have that again,” said senior O.J. Cahoon, who finished with a game-high 35 points for the second straight playoff game. “We wanted to come out strong. We came out strong like we wanted to and that made us really happy.

“We got up on them and we did exactly what we needed to do. You never know when a team will come back, so we had to keep the pressure and keep the score up.”

Fellow senior Tatianna Moore helped keep Northside in it with eight first-quarter points and a 20-16 lead. In the second quarter, Northside held Washington County to five points on 2-of-13 shooting with 11 turnovers.

By halftime, Northside was cruising to a 43-21 lead.

Now that’s more like it.

“We really see the same thing in conference, but Washington County, they gave us a run for our money today with the hustle and the aggression,” Moore said. So in the locker room, we really just … coach (Michelle Leather), she gave us a talk. So we really just need to keep our head right.”

The Panthers kept the pressure on in the second half. Washington County tried to use its own press to rattle Northside but it didn’t work. Northside forced five more turnovers and limited Washington County to 6-for-22 shooting for a 59-36 lead going into the fourth quarter. Cahoon, Scheffler and Sophie Berry combined for 34 of Northside’s 40 second-half points.

“I saw (Washington County) going to almost a box of one in the end and going man to man,” Leathers said. “But I think we just focused and knew what we needed to do.

“Yeah, we just focus on ourselves, make some adjustments. We looked at some film of ourselves and got some rest. Because you got to get some rest.

“We play hard. My words are keep the main thing the main thing. Stay focused. It’s working.”

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