AHOSKIE – Balanced scoring led to victory.

Antonio Branch hit for 16 points to lead the Bears, but 12 Hertford County players scored to help them grab a 71-42 victory over Weldon here Monday evening.

The Bears used a late second quarter run to pull ahead of the Chargers and never looked back as they cruised to their seventh consecutive victory.

Deontre Person hit a triple at the 3:02 mark of the second quarter to get Weldon to within two (24-22).

From there, the Bears responded with an 8-0 run to close out the first half.

Lamar Monger hit the opening bucket of the streak followed by a free throw and three-pointer from LaMarcus Bond. Branch hit two free throws to close out the half with HCHS leading 32-22.

Weldon scored only twice in the third quarter, buckets by Carlton Pulley and Person. Meanwhile, the Bears were lighting up the scoreboard as they hit seven field goals, four of which were three-pointers. Branch hit two of the triples while Wayne Pryor and Chris Mizelle buried the others, giving HCHS a 50-26 lead after three quarters.

In addition to Branch’s 16 points, Bond had eight along with Mychal Moore. Monger added seven points while Marcus Burnell had six and Patrick Downing five.

Hertford County (71): Antonio Branch – 16, L. Bond – 8, M. Moore – 8, L. Monger – 6, P. Downing – 5, L. Jenkins – 4, D. Pilmon – 4, T. Powell – 4, C. Mizelle – 3, W. Pryor – 3, M. Henneghan – 3

Weldon (42): Deontre Person – 16, C. Pulley – 6, A. Blount – 4, D. Bradley – 4, K. Boore – 4, B. Boone – 2, L. Jenkins – 2