AHOSKIE – Just ‘Bear’ly.

Hertford County’s Lady Bears held off a late charge from Gates County to claim a 54-50 victory in the first round of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald Holiday Classic here Friday night.

The win, the first in nine starts for the Lady Bears, catapulted them into Monday night’s championship against Bertie, a 77-26 winner over Northampton County High School – East. The Lady Bears topped Bertie 59-56 in last year’s final.

Gates County trailed 46-33 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Lady Red Barons outscored the host school 17-8 in the final period.

The Lady Bears pushed the margin to 14 (50-36) after a Chaquitta Holloman hoop with just over six minutes to play.

The Lady Red Barons then rolled off six unanswered on hoops by Destinee Hurdle, Keli Boone and Casey Tinkham to trim the margin to eight.

HCHS senior Erika Mizelle then buried a bucket with 2:46 to play to push the lead back to double figures.

Consecutive GCHS hoops from Ameca Goodman and Talisa Bradley trimmed the Hertford County lead to six (52-46), but the Lady Red Barons got no closer until scoring a bucket with three seconds to play.

In the early going, HCHS jumped out to a 21-9 lead by the seven-minute mark of the second quarter.

Boone opened scoring with a hoop a minute into the game, but it was the last Gates County bucket for nearly two minutes.

In the meantime, Jamie Britt had hit back-to-back buckets for HCHS.

By the four minute mark, a Crystal Lowe hoop had given the Lady Red Barons a 6-5 advantage, but the Lady Bears rolled off seven of the next nine points to claim a 12-9 advantage.

Leading by three, the HCHS squad went on a 9-0 tear through the remaining part of the first quarter and into the second. Holloman, who had a game-high 16, highlighted the run with a pair of hoops and a couple of free throws.

Gates County fought back in the second, trimming the lead to seven (31-24) when Goodman hit a hoop to end the first half.

The margin was down to six (33-27) following a Tinkham hoop early in the third quarter, but Hertford County went on an 8-0 run to push their advantage to 14.

Holloman hit a pair of shots from the charity stripe to begin the run and then Kendra Cofield took over as she hit a trey, a field goal and a free throw over a 22 second span.

Gates County missed a golden opportunity as they missed six consecutive free throws in the next minute before Britt buried a field goal with 2:33 to play in the third, which gave Hertford County their largest margin of the contest at 16 (43-27).

Gates County’s Boone answered with a 5-0 run of her own when she drilled a field goal and a trey back-to-back to cut the lead to 43-33 before Holloman dropped in a bucket and a free throw for Hertford County.

&uot;I am pleased with the growth we’ve shown from early December until now,&uot; HCHS mentor Joan McCullough said. &uot;I felt comfortable in what we could do tonight. I was able to trust them to do what they are supposed to.

&uot;We played with heart tonight,&uot; she added. &uot;We had determination and a will to win and that is a major accomplishment for us.&uot;

Lady Bears (54)

Chaquitta Holloman – 16, Kendra Cofield – 10, RonGina Wilder – 10, J. Britt – 8, E. Mizelle – 6, D. Fennell – 2, L. Robinson – 2

Lady Red Barons (50)

A. Goodman – 14, K. Boone – 11, C. Lowe – 10, C. Tinkham – 6, D. Hurdle – 4, J. Bradley – 3, K. Riddick – 2

Lady Falcons crush East

A 29-7 run in the second quarter catapulted Bertie to its second straight Classic championship as they easily outdistanced Northampton-East by a final of 77-26 in Friday’s opener.

The 51-point margin was the highest ever recorded in a Classic game, surpassing the 50-point margin of victory when Hertford County’s boys topped Gates County 85-35 in 1992.

Jessica Breland led the Lady Falcons as she poured in 25 points off 10 field goals and a handful of free throws.

Ashley Berryman contributed 14 in the victory while Tierra Perry had 13 and Temika Rascoe added 10.

&uot;Our execution was fine,&uot; coach Alice Lyons-Bennett said. &uot;They listened tonight and ran plays.

&uot;We still made freshman and sophomore mistakes, but they are things that can be corrected,&uot; she added.

The Lady Falcon defense was formidable as well, holding the Lady Rams below double digits in each of the first three quarters.

Bertie advanced to the tournament title game for the third consecutive year. They have won two of those three title contests.

Lady Falcons (77)

Jessica Breland – 25, Ashely Berryman – 14, Tierra Perry – 13, Temika Rascoe – 10, L. Watson – 4, D. Rodgers – 4, R. Barrow – 3, A. Speller – 2, A. Bell – 1, J. Tuff – 1

Lady Rams (26)

Darlen Smallwood – 8, L. Lesuer – 6, S. Long – 5, H. Creech – 4, D. Bradley – 3