The first time Northeastern and Pasquotank met on the basketball court this season, there was a lot on the line. When the two schools play again tonight in the regular-season finale, the stakes will be doubled.

And while the focus of the Jan. 13 meeting was the girls’ contest, tonight’s games will be a doubleheader consisting of two showdowns dripping with postseason implications.

“These are the games you play for,” Northeastern girls coach Pat Thornton said.

It was the girls’s game that drew most of the headlines back in January as the two clubs were each unbeaten in conference play when they met.

Northeastern (14-4, 9-2) won that game 54-41, but went on to lose back-to-back games against Hertford and Bertie as the Lady Panthers (19-3, 9-2) kept rolling. Now, they enter tonight’s game tied with Hertford atop the conference standings.

The winner will capture the No. 1 2A seed for the state playoffs, though both are locked into the tournament field. It will also set off a series of tiebreakers that will determine who is the host the for the first round of the NCC tournament, which goes to the team that finishes No. 2 in the league standings.

If Northeastern wins, it will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament and get a first-round bye, regardless of what Hertford does. If Pasquotank wins, it would have to hope for a Hertford loss to take the top seed, though the Lady Panthers would still claim the No. 1 playoff spot.

Though the tiebreaker scenarios are complicated when spelled out, the solution is simple — win.

“I take a different approach,” said Pasquotank coach Janie Cofield. “I try not to put a lot of pressure on them, because this is the first time this group has been in a couple of big games so I don’t want to overwhelm them. We just need focus on how we need to get there.”

On the boys’ side, Hertford has already clinched the top seed for the conference tournament. Pasquotank (14-8, 8-3) had been in control of that No. 2 spot, as well as the top 2A seed, but the Panthers have lost two conference games in a row and are now just a game ahead of the Eagles (11-7, 7-4).

Pasquotank’s upset loss to Edenton in overtime on Tuesday left the door open for Northeastern to forge a tie for the No. 2 seed, though the Panthers can slam that door shut by beating the Eagles tonight. That would also hand the top 2A playoff seed to the Panthers.

“We made points about the situation prior to the Edenton game. Not just about Edenton, but both games,” Pasquotank coach Ray Burnham said.

If the Eagles win, they would be seeded No. 2 for the conference tournament and host the first round by virtue of winning a draw on Wednesday during the NCC athletic directors’ meeting.

However, in that event, whichever team goes further in the conference tournament would be awarded the No. 1 2A seed for the state tournament.

Pasquotank beat Northeastern 54-46 on Jan. 13, and despite having lost two in a row, the Panthers enter confident.

“We have a lot of confidence going into this,” Burnham said. “Last night after the game, I talked to a couple of the guys and it’s important that we play well, regardless of who it is. But, this is going to be hyped up a little bit more because it’s the crosstown game.”