AHOSKIE – It was a game – at least for a quarter.

Hertford County shook off a sluggish start Thursday night to roll past Currituck High School 84-61 here Thursday night.

In the process, the Bears remained tied atop the Northeastern Coastal Conference standings with a 5-1 record in the league. They improved to 14-2 overall.

After battling to a near deadlock (HCHS led 16-14) in the first quarter, Hertford County exploded for 21 points in the second period, going on a 6-0 spurt and a 7-0 run to take a 37-23 lead by the intermission.

Lamar Monger started the first run with a hoop that was followed by successive buckets from LaMarcus Jenkins. The result was a 22-14 HCHS lead, but Ryan Harrision hit a triple to get Currituck back within five.

Then Antonio Branch took over, scoring the next seven points to push the Bears ahead 29-17 with three minutes to play in the second quarter.

Currituck got a hoop from Eddie Whitmore and a free throw from Joe Molo to make it 29-20, but Hertford County scored eight of the final 11 points of the quarter. The Bears got hoops from Jenkins, Wayne Pryor and Marcus Burnell during the stretch and led by 14 at the intermission.

Hertford County came out firing again in the second half, scoring the first six points off hoops from Marcel Henneghan, Branch and Jenkins to take a 43-23 advantage with 7:05 to play in the third period.

Currituck got within 45-29, but Hertford County had another six-point run to go ahead by 22. During the stretch, the home team got field goals from Burnell, LaMarcus Bond and Chris Mizelle.

The Knights battled back to within 14 (55-39) late in the third quarter, but the period closed with a 11-point Hertford County run as the Bears put the game away.

Burnell started the spurt which featured a pair of hoops by Branch and a basket off the hands of Tydreke Powell.

The Bears had four players in double figures for the contest, led by Branch with 16. Burnell and Powell recorded 13 points each while Jenkins had 10 points.

Seven other HCHS players scored as the team rolled to victory.

Currituck was led by a game-high 19-point performance from Molo.

The Bears hosted First Flight last night (Friday) and will be back in action at Northeastern on Tuesday.

Hertford County (84): Antonio Branch – 16, Tydreke Powell – 13, Marcus Burnell – 13, LaMarcus Jenkins – 10, L. Monger – 8, C. Mizelle – 7, L. Bond – 7, M. Moore – 4, W. Pryor – 2, M. Henneghan – 2, P. Downing – 2

Currituck (61): Joe Molo – 19, Ryan Harrison – 14, Tim Vinick – 13, J. Basnight – 6, R. Beaver – 4, E. Whitmore – 2, J. Saunders – 2, S. Robinson – 1