AHOSKIE – Princess Anne High School made the most of it’s first-ever appearance in the News-Herald Holiday Classic sponsored by United Country Joe Murray Realty.

The Cavaliers scored 27 points in the first quarter and never looked back, downing Gates County High School 69-48 to earn a first round victory. Jamal Moses led the way with 17 points while the Barons’ top scorer was Andrew Wiggins with 11.

Unfortunately for the long-standing tournament member Barons, the Cavaliers came out on fire during the opening round Wednesday night. Princess Anne scored 15 of the first 17 points and built a 27-7 lead by the end of the first period.

Gates County couldn’t get their footing any better during the second quarter. They did cut the lead to 19, but the Cavs scored 10 of the final 14 points to take a 48-23 lead into the locker room at half time.

The Cavaliers put away any thoughts of a Gates County comeback early in the third quarter when they opened the second half with a 9-0 run that pushed their lead all the way to 57-23.

Gates was able to trim the lead to 61-35 with a late run as they ended the third quarter.

The final period saw the Red Barons outscore Princess Anne 13-8 to close out the game.

In addition to Wiggins, Jermaine Holley and Brandall Riddick were in double figures with 10 each. Deon Arline added nine for the Barons while Josh Goss had eight.

Behind Moses for Princess Anne were Isiah Simmons with 14, Justin Stieff and Zack Tavarez with 13 each and Tyrell Jones with an even dozen.

Gates moved to Friday’s Fifth Place game while Princess Anne moved on to meet Hertford County in Thursday’s semifinal matchup.