WINDSOR – A Desmond Williams free throw with no time on the clock lifted Bertie to a 46-45 boy’s basketball win over Gates County here Friday.

Williams, a sophomore who had seven points on the night, had tied the game almost three minutes earlier with a bucket to make it 45-all.

The Falcons then held the ball for the final two minutes and got a foul call.

&uot;We held the ball the last two minutes of the game because of all our inexperience and Gates County stayed back in a zone,&uot; Bertie head coach Calvin Moore said. &uot;We were either going to make a shot or have overtime.&uot;

Kent Bazemore led Bertie with 16 points, but it was Graylon Boone of Gates County who had the biggest night, pouring in 18 points and leading all scorers.

The game was nip-and-tuck for most of the second half with neither team able to get more than a four-point lead on the other.

The Red Barons got back-to-back baskets from Boone and Dexter Hobbs with just over four minutes to play in the game to take a 43-39 lead, but Bazemore answered with consecutive hoops to deadlock the score.

Gates County led briefly on a Justin Rodil hoop, but the Williams basket tied it going into the final minutes of play.

In the first quarter Bertie ran to a 9-0 advantage on the back of two hoops by Williams, a trey from Brandon Brown and a pair of free throws by Williams.

Gates responded with an 8-0 run by getting hoops from Jon Powell, Charlie Holloman and Dustin Briggs.

The Red Barons used a 16-3 run to grab a 10-point halftime lead.

Senior Raphael Eason started the spurt with a pair of free throws near the end of the first quarter. He was followed by a Holloman hoop that made it 12-11 in favor of GCHS at the end of the quarter.

Boone hit a hoop and a trey to open the second period, but Darius Wesson answered with a triple of his own. Unfortunately for the Falcons, it was the only hoop of the quarter.

The Red Barons got baskets from Briggs, Holloman and Powell to lead 24-14 at the intermission.

Bertie responded with a 18-point third quarter to take a one-point lead (32-31) by the end of the period.

Bazemore and Brown had the hot hands with eight points each while Frank Lee added a hoop.

The Falcons, now 3-1 overall, will host First Flight tonight beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Bertie (46): Kent Bazemore – 16, Brandon Brown – 15, D. Williams – 7, D. Wesson – 4, F. Lee – 2, J. Bazemore – 2

Gates County (45): Graylon Boone – 18, J. Powell – 8, C. Holloman – 8, D. Briggs – 5, D. Hobbs – 2, R. Eason – 2, J. Rodil – 2