LASKER – A month is like forever in basketball season.

When Northeast Academy traveled to Merry Hill in December, they suffered a 45-33 loss at the hands of Lawrence Academy.

Since that time, the Lady Eagles have upset first place Ridgecroft School and put together a 3-3 league record. Lawrence meanwhile, hasn’t won since, dropping several close games to fall to 1-7 in the Tarheel Independent Conference.

Tuesday night’s rematch showed the difference as NEA used a stifling full-court press to force 32 Lawrence turnovers in a 38-21 victory.

&uot;I think our defense was our offense tonight,&uot; veteran Northeast coach Joella Brown said. &uot;I was pleased with the entire team.

&uot;We really stepped up our defense tonight,&uot; she added. &uot;We missed a too many easy shots, but I was pleased with the intensity and thought we played, for the most part, very smart.&uot;

In fact, the Northeast defense was so good Tuesday they forced more Lawrence turnovers (32) than they allowed shots (26) until Brown cleared her bench midway through the fourth quarter.

The Eagles’ first basket came nearly two minutes into the game when Jeanie Hargrave found the bottom of the net. It was only 21 seconds later that Lawrence’s Jodi White hit 1-of-2 from the line to cut the deficit in half.

From there, the Lady Eagles would go on a 6-0 run to close out the quarter, getting buckets from senior Laura Boone and sophomore Danielle Hallman as well as another from Hargrave to take an 8-1 lead.

Lawrence’s Kendall Street hit a short jumper with 7:31 to go in the second quarter to account for the Lady Warriors’ first field goal, but Northeast answered with back-to-back Lyndal Brown buckets to make it 12-3.

White sandwiched a pair of hoops around a Brown jumper to close out the first quarter with Lawrence trailing 14-7.

Hargrave started the second half with a hoop and a free throw before Brown scored again, making it 19-7.

White stopped the spurt momentarily with another hoop, but Hargrave and Brown hit consecutive baskets for the second time in the quarter to push the Northeast lead to 23-9.

Lawrence senior Jessica Johnston scored with 3:50 to play in the quarter, but senior Meredith Harrell and Hargrave answered again with back-to-back scores.

Lawrence’s Kate Gillam and Hargrave exchanged buckets to close out the quarter with the Eagles in control 31-13.

Boone and Brown started the fourth quarter with back-to-back buckets to push the NEA advantage to 35-13 before Brown started going to the bench.

Once Lawrence coach Charlie Harden did the same, he got a three-pointer and a field goal from Jessie Harden to spark some life into the Warriors.

Northeast got scores from Caroline Carrothers and Lori Coggins to finish with the 17-point win.

Brown led the Lady Eagles with 14 points, one better than Hargrave’s 13-point performance. Five points each from Harden and White led Lawrence.

The win boosted Northeast to 4-3 in the TIC and 9-6 overall while dropping the Lady Warriors to 1-7 in the league and 2-14 overall.

Northeast played at home again last night (Wednesday) when they hosted Halifax. They will be at home again Friday when TIC rival Pungo Christian Academy pays a visit.

In jayvee action Callie Burgess had 10 points for Northeast as they topped Lawrence 29-14. Jennifer Sykes added seven points while Betty Edwards had six.

Lawrence was led by Ashton Mizelle with six and Debbie Stotesbury with four.

Lawrence will be in action Friday when they host Terra Ceia Christian School. Thursday night’s contest with Bethel Christian Academy has been cancelled.

Lady Eagles (38): Lyndal Brown – 14, Jeanie Hargrave – 13, L. Boone – 4, D. Hallman – 2, C. Carrothers – 2, M. Harrell – 2, L. Coggins – 1

Lady Warriors (21): Jessie Harden – 5, Jodi White – 5, K. Street – 4, L. Taylor – 3, J. Johnston – 2, K. Gillam – 2