EMPORIA, Va. –

Hertford County swept two games at the Greensville County tournament here this past weekend.

Saturday night, the Bears survived a tough test from Turner Ashby in the second round of the tournament.

It took six late free throws to seal the 73-66 win over a team that played entirely different than Friday night’s opponent.

“We beat two good teams in Greensville and Turner Ashby,” HCHS mentor Charles Simmons said. “They have entirely different styles. Greensville County wants to get up and down the floor the way we do.

“Turner Ashby is patient,” he added. “They remind you of Princeton in the way they play. They gave us fits, but it’s a good experience for us to play that type of team early in the season.”

The Bears held a comfortable 67-56 advantage midway through the fourth period, but Turner Ashby rolled off seven unanswered to cut the lead to four with 1:03 to play. Jay Shearer had a three-pointer and a deuce on the spurt and Andrew Armstrong added the other bucket.

Lamar Monger, one of two HCHS players named to the All-Tournament Team, then went to the charity stripe and hit 3-of-4 to push the lead back to seven (70-63).

Shearer again tried to lead Ashby back with a triple, but Monger added two free throws and Andre Lyles put in one to seal the victory.

Hertford County got off to a slow start in the first quarter with Turner Ashby scoring seven of the first 11 points and taking a 17-12 lead into the second quarter.

They pushed the margin to 19-12 before the Bears responded with an 8-0 spurt that gave them the lead.

Patrick Downing started the run with a bucket that was followed by two Monger baskets and a pair of free throws from the same hands as HCHS took a 20-19 lead.

Turner Ashby surged back in front 23-20, but the Bears scored the final five points of the first period on hoops from Monger and Marcus Burnell and a free throw from All-Tournament selection LaMarcus Jenkins to lead 31-27 at the intermission.

The lead had been whittled to three (39-36) midway through the third quarter, but Hertford County responded with another 8-0 spurt sparked by Burnell’s hoop. Lyles buried a trey and Monger hit a two.

The Bears pushed their lead to 53-46 by the end of the third quarter.

“Overall, this tournament was a good experience for us,” Simmons said. “It will help us as we prepare to begin conference play this week.”

The Bears, now 4-0 on the season, will travel to Edenton Tuesday for their Northeastern Coastal Conference opener.

HCHS (73): Lamar Monger n 23, LaMarcus Jenkins n 17, Andre Lyles n 14, Marcus Burnell n 10, T. Powell n 7, P. Downing n 2

Turner Ashby (66): Jay Shearer n 23, Andrew Armstrong n 18, J. Bucher n 9, E. Lehman n 6, J. Wright n 4, D. Jones n 4, K. Linn – 2