AHOSKIE – A furious late rally lifted Hertford County over archrival Bertie here Friday night.

The Bears, who trailed by nine (46-37) with three minutes to play in the third quarter, closed on a 31-11 run to score an upset victory over the visiting Falcons by a count of 68-57.

HCHS improved to 8-3 overall and 4-2 inside the Northeastern Coastal Conference by avenging an earlier loss to Bertie.

James Futrell started the Hertford County run with his hoop that was followed by a pair of Frank Gatling free throws that cut the Bertie lead to 46-41.

John Lee stopped the HCHS spurt briefly with a hoop that came before a 6-0 Bears’ run. Futrell and Ken Lee scored the six points combined to trim the lead to one (48-47).

Terrill Holley scored for Bertie just before the quarter ended to give the Falcons a 50-47 advantage headed into the final period.

The Bears opened the fourth quarter with a trey by Gatling and deuces by Lamar Monger and Leonard Burnell that gave Hertford County a 54-50 advantage from which they never looked back.

Bertie got within two following a Roshon Holley free throw, but HCHS rolled off eight unanswered over the next minute and a half to lead 64-53 with under a minute to play.

&uot;I was real pleased with our defensive effort late in the third quarter and in the final quarter,&uot; veteran HCHS basketball boss Charles Simmons said. &uot;We protected the ball well in the last minute and made our free throws.

&uot;Overall it was a great effort from the whole team,&uot; Simmons added. &uot;This win puts us back in the conference race.&uot;

Hertford County led 28-23 late in the second quarter until Bertie surged into the lead.

T. Holley hit a trey that sparked an 11-0 Falcon spurt.

Rwenshaun Miller hit a pair of free throws to deadlock the score before four straight points by Casey Owens established a Bertie lead. R. Holley hit the final bucket of the run for Bertie, giving the Falcons a 34-28 lead.

Burnell and Futrell scored for the Bears before the half ended making the score 34-31 in favor of the Falcons at intermission.

Hertford County (68): Frank Gatling – 18, Leonard Burnell – 13, L. Jenkins – 9, K. Lee – 9, L. Monger – 7, J. Futrell – 5, M. Burnell – 4, A. Boyd – 3

Bertie (57): Terrill Holley – 21, Casey Owens – 11, R. Miller – 9, B. McShepard – 6, K. Bazemore – 4, R. Holley – 2, T. Vaughan – 2, J. Lee – 2