South Forsyth’s boys gave North Forsyth headaches in Coal Mountain Tuesday, but in the end the result just added to a migraine of a season for the War Eagles.

North pulled out a 64-54 win, sweeping South for the second year in a row in the county rivalry and keeping the young War Eagles winless on the season.

The 10-point spread didn’t reflect the competitiveness of the game throughout. Both head coaches said that something about the meeting of the two schools always seems to result in a tough game.

“I know from being in Forsyth County, you can throw out everything [in terms of records]. It doesn’t matter. It’s just different,” North coach Bobby Pless said.

“It’s always a good game between North and South since I’ve been here .... Our guys tried hard. Their guys tried hard,” first-year South coach Kevin Dankosky said.

North took a 56-48 decision at South’s gym earlier in the season.

“I thought Kevin’s done a good job with them,” Pless said of the opposing coach.

“They’ve gotten better since last time we played. I think both teams have gotten better. The first game was very sloppy. This game was a much better basketball game than the first game.”

A productive first quarter at the War Eagles’ offensive end had South leading 20-11 in the final seconds of the opening period, when Trent Riddle launched a shot from three-quarters court distance that banked off the glass and in to pull the Raiders to within six heading to the second quarter.

It was the second time in a week the Raiders got a circus shot to fall at home, following a basket from beyond midcourt by Tyler Keane against Collins Hill the previous Thursday.

South’s offensive production fell off sharply from there. Mark McCorkle (12 points) had knocked down two 3-pointers in a 9-point first quarter, but the Raiders stepped up their coverage of the sophomore after that, keeping him off the scoreboard after halftime.

By intermission, North had fought back to take a 31-29 lead. North again scored in the final second of a period, as Chris Bureau (game-high 17 points) grabbed a rebound and knocked down a layup to break a tie at the first half buzzer. North then held the 8-5 advantage in a low scoring third quarter, upping the lead to 39-34 after 24 minutes.

With both teams in the double bonus and South looking to make a comeback, the fourth quarter was all about free throws.

North was 14-of-21 from the stripe in the final period, with Riley Smith (15 points) going 8-for-10, allowing the home team to hold off the Eagles.

While South cut the lead to three a couple times in the period, North always had the answer.

With the Eagles down only 55-52 and just over a minute to play, North’s Keane hit the first of two foul shots. He missed the second, but the Raiders grabbed the rebound. After a timeout, Chris Smith (10 points) knocked down a layup on an inbounds play, putting the Raiders back up by six.

South wouldn’t threaten the lead again.

Nick Graf and Tyler Landry both scored 15 points to lead South, with Dankosky crediting the effort from his post players.

Babila Lima had 11 points for the War Eagles.