WINDSOR – Hertford County used an even half-dozen late free throws to seal a Northeastern Coastal Conference win over Bertie.

The Bears, who led 72-68, connected on six free throws in the last two minutes to grab an 80-73 victory here Tuesday night.

HCHS held a tenuous 72-65 lead after LaKendrick Lee buried a hoop with 3:13 to play, but Roshon Holley hit a trifecta to bring the Falcons to within four (72-68).

From there, the Bears’ LeMarcus Bond, Lorenzo Benthall and Pert Simons hit free thows before Kent Bazemore buried a trey to cut the lead back to seven.

Qwenton Valentine went to the line and hit a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

Bertie got out to a good start, taking a 14-11 lead after Holley and Casey Owens hit one shot and four free throws.

The Falcons were able to extend the lead to four (26-22) on a pair of Holley free throws midway through the second quarter and it remained there until a Frank Gatling free throw at the end of the first half cut the Bertie lead to 41-38.

The Falcons’ lead was six after a Holley free throw early in the third quarter, but the Bears rolled off 13 unanswered to gain a seven-point lead of their own. Benthall was the main catalyst on the run, starting the spurt with a three-pointer and ending it with a hoop at the 2:48 mark of the period. Valentine also had a pair of buckets during the stretch.

The Bears’ stretched their advantage to nine when Bond buried a trey as the third quarter came to an end, but the Falcons scored the first six points of the fourth quarter, thanks to a hoop and a trey from Jermaine Norfleet, to trim the lead to three (62-59).

The win boosts Hertford County to 12-5 on the season and 5-1 inside the league while dropping Bertie to 4-10 and 1-4.

Hertford County (80)

LaKendrick Lee – 16, Lorenzo Benthall – 14, Pert Simons – 14, Qwenton Valentine – 10, L. Bond – 7, C. Jenkins – 6, F. Gatling – 5, B. Long – 5, T. Powell – 3

Bertie (73)

Jermaine Norfleet – 13, Roshon Holley – 12, Jonathan Jackson – 10, Casey Owens – 10, R. Maldonado – 7. T. Holley – 6, K. Bazemore – 5, B. McShepherd – 4, P. Spivey – 4, M. Vinson – 2

Lady Falcons grab NCC victory

Bertie jumped out to an early lead scoring 16 of the first 17 points and running away to a 68-33 victory.

The win keeps the Lady Falcons perfect (5-0) inside the Northeastern Coastal Conference while dropping the Lady Bears to 2-4 in the league.

Ashley Berryman started the scoring for Bertie and had six of her 14 points in the first quarter. Joining Berryman during the spurt were sophomore Jessica Breland (seven points) as well as Tierra Perry and Ashley Speller.

Breland led Bertie with 22 points, a game high, while RonGina Wilder had 15 for the Lady Bears.

Lady Falcons (68)

Jessica Breland – 22, Ashley Berryman – 14, Tierra Perry – 10, C. Ransome – 6, L. Watson – 6, A. Speller – 4, A. Bell – 2, D. Rodgers – 2, J. Tuff – 2

Lady Bears (33)

RonGina Wilder – 15, D. Fennell – 5, W. Thomas – 4, C. Holloman – 3, E. Mizelle – 2, J. Britt – 2, S. Majette – 1, K. Cofield – 1