EDENTON – The Bears started league play the right way.

Hertford County jumped out to a 1-0 start in Northeastern Coastal Conference play Friday night as they knocked off Edenton 61-48 in a varsity boy’s basketball game.

“In the first half, we came out too fast,” said HCHS Head Coach Charles Simmons. “In the second half, we settled down, we ran our transition break, played defense and got the ball inside to our big people.”

Edenton appeared ready for the visiting Bears as they jumped out to a 9-3 lead early in the first quarter. The Aces got buckets from four different players – Deshon Fleming, Scott Hall, Jaylil Phelps and Mack Leary – answered only by a three-pointer off the hands of HCHS guard Antonio Vaughan.

The Bears began to come back when Dontez Tyler converted a three-point play and was followed quickly by a hoop from Petey Boone and a triple by Derrick Perry to give the Bears an 11-9 lead. Hall tied the game for Edenton as the first period drew to a close.

HCHS got consecutive hoops from Jordan Jones, who led the Bears with a career-high 16 points, and Vaughan. The Aces battled back, however, with a basket by Phelps and a three-point play from Hall as they took a 16-15 advantage.

The teams battled back-and-forth over the remainder of the second period with the lead changing hands three times before senior Ivan Coultan gave Hertford County a 28-27 lead at the intermission.

The Bears still held a one-point advantage (32-31) early in the third period when they rolled off 11 unanswered points. Boone started the spurt with a hoop while Brandon Perry and Jones also had scores on the run. Tyler led that spurt with five points.

Daquan Ford tried to stop the spurt by scoring for Edenton, but the Bears answered with a triple by Vaughan. HCHS held a 48-35 edge heading into the final period of play.

Phelps started the fourth quarter with a hoop for Edenton, but Jones responded with back-to-back buckets. Vaughan did the same after a Hall free throw, as HCHS moved ahead 56-38 with 5:01 to play in the contest.

The Aces did mount a 7-0 run late in the game thanks to Tyquan Fleming’s only six points of the game and a free throw by Duzure Nixon.

Jones led HCHS with 16 points while Tyler tossed in 14 and Vaughan added 13 points. Rounding out the scoring for Hertford County were Boone (5), Coultan (4), Brandon Perry (4), Derrick Perry (3) and Dekimis Perry (2).

Hall led the Aces with 12 points while Fleming, Phelps and Leary had six points each.

The Bears improved to 3-2 for the season and 1-0 in league play. They will stay in conference play tonight (Tuesday) when they host First Flight High School.