FOUR OAKS - As South Johnston sophomore guard Courtney Woods hoisted the North-South Christmas Classic championship trophy, she probably didn't realize she was only thre years old the last time South's girls basketball team claimed any kind of hardware.

Regardless, Woods' wide grin told the story of the day, and perhaps the year for South Johnston. After only notching five wins in the previous two seasons combined, South is off to a 7-4 start and defeated rival North Johnston 52-37 for the tournament title.

"We haven't won in so long, they didn't really know how to win and now we're doing a little bit of winning and we're starting to feel good, so they're playing harder," said South Johnston coach Ronda Langdon.

The first time North and South met on the court this year, a hard-fought game went down to the wire with the Trojans winning in overtime, 60-56. But this time, South extended a 22-18 halftime lead into a big 47-26 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

In the first 11 minutes of the second half, South used a tough pressing defense to outscore North 25-8, and take control of the game.

"We feed off of our successful defense," Langdon said. "If you're intense enough on defense and you start causing turnovers, your offense is going to come. So we've always tried to keep them aggressive on that end."

Sophomore point guard Courtney Woods, MVP of the tournament, was integral in South's big win, scoring 16 points and finding openings for her teammates.

"Everyone has their responsibilities, and Courtney has to be that floor leader," Langdon said. "She's just a smart player to be as young as she is. She sees the court well, and does a lot of things well."

Throughout the game, play was scrappy as turnovers and jump balls were frequent. "Our intensity level has gone up, so our aggressiveness has increased," Langdon said. "When we're attacking, we're playing better, and if we stand back, we just don't play as well."

In the first half, North was able to keep it close behind the play of seniors LeAnne Birdsall and Brittany Keene, who finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

After halftime, though, the Panthers had a difficult time breaking the press and taking care of the ball. At one point, South had gone on a 28-8 run.

Despite the recent success, Langdon doesn't want the turnaround to stop there. "It's been a while, so we're real excited about this," she said. "It's turning around. It's finally feeling like they're winners. They've done what it takes and we've just got to keep getting better."