Journey ends: Northside girls’ basketball team falls in third round of state playoffs

Published 6:29 am Friday, March 7, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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YEATESVILLE, N.C. — As the final buzzer sounded, the Northside girls’ basketball team had to go through something it had not done in a couple of months.

The players lined up to exchange “good game” handshakes before heading to the locker room for the final time this season. North Duplin ended Northside’s season with a 58-45 victory in the third round of the Class 1A state basketball playoffs. It was just the second loss of the season for the Panthers (26-2), who had a 17-game win streak end.

All of the players were physically and mentally drained. That was expected. But the emotions were undeniable in the faces of the four Northside seniors on the team: OJ Cahoon, Madison Scheffler, Tatianna Moore and Keniyah Whitley. The foursome were 81-17 and went to the fourth round of the state playoffs as freshmen. Their sophomore and junior teams made it to the second round of the state playoffs.

So it’s natural to expect a level of sadness that the incredible season they helped make happen was suddenly over.

“I’m very proud … I’m very proud of this season,” Northside coach Michelle Leathers said. “I know Kaniyia came later on, I think her 10th-grade year. But to have OJ, Madison, Tatianna for four years, they all believe in the program. I mean, it’s just overwhelming feeling right now.”

North Duplin (24-4), the No. 6 seed in the Class 1A East, never trailed in a contest that got rough and tumble a few times with hard fouls and some calls that left fans, players and coaches scratching their heads. Nevertheless, the Rebels kept the heat on the Panthers, forced turnovers and bent but did not break when Northside, the No. 3 seed in the Class 1A East, rallied from a double-digit deficit to within two points midway through the third quarter.

“Yeah, I mean, they obviously had a great season, a really good team,” North Duplin coach Jon Kornegay said. “We were trying to limit their transition opportunities. They’re really tough when they get to turning the ball over.

“At least, they still had a lot of turnovers tonight, but I thought our transition defense was pretty good. And we were able to, I thought the fourth quarter, had a really good fourth quarter. Our third quarter was a little shaky. And I thought we really had some poise in the fourth quarter.”

North Duplin built a 27-16 lead with less than a minute left in the first half after a rebound and basket by Abigeal Norris. Northside got some confidence back and cut the margin to 29-20 after baskets by Sophie Berry and Cahoon.

Northside’s Allie Davis nailed a 3-pointer for the first basket of the third quarter that started another rally. An 8-2 run was capped by two free throws by Madison Scheffler between a North Duplin timeout to cut the Rebels’ lead to 33-31 with 4:16 left in the third.

The Panthers cut the margin again to three (40-37, 40 seconds left in the third quarter) and four points (47-43, 5:55 left in the game) but never got closer. During the possession after Scheffler’s free throws, the Panthers missed four straight shots at the basket that would have tied the game. That included two attempts by Cahoon, who was closely guarded all night by North Duplin’s defense.

Later, Cahoon was called for her fourth foul. She argued the play, was given a technical and went to the bench with 2:39 left. Northside was unable to recover from there. She finished with 14 points while Scheffler had 10

“A lot of things I wanna say, but I’m gonna stay positive,” Leathers said. “I felt like OJ played hard. And I felt like some calls should have gone her way and it didn’t.

“She had a tough time. They had such a hard defense on her. They had a good defense, but you can’t hold people either. You can’t hold them and not make a call. But it’s tough.”

North Duplin was home on Friday against No. 7 seed East Bladen after No. 2 seed Wilson Prep also lost at home on Tuesday.

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