After flying high against the Northeast Academy For Aerospace and Advanced Tech Griffins on Wednesday, the Northside - Pinetown Panthers came back down to earth. The match between Northside - Pinetown and Pamlico County wasn't particularly close, with Northside - Pinetown falling 70-51. Northside - Pinetown found out winning isn't easy when you don't work as a unit and rack up 11 fewer assists than your opponent.
Despite the loss, Northside - Pinetown still got an impressive performance from Griffin Johnson, who scored 19 points along with eight rebounds. The match was Johnson's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Malachi Moore, who scored 13 points.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Pamlico County to victory, but perhaps none more so than Tariq Barber, who scored 22 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Those 22 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Ragan Shields, who scored 18 points along with five rebounds.
Northside - Pinetown's loss was their third straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 11-3. As for Pamlico County, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-6 record this season.
Northside - Pinetown won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Bear Grass Charter at 7:00 p.m. on January 5th. Bear Grass Charter is coming into the game hot, having won their last three games. As for Pamlico County, their homestand continues as they prepare to take on Martin County at 7:30 p.m. on January 11th. Martin County knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past six matchups -- so hopefully Pamlico County likes a good challenge.