ELIZABETH CITY – There’s a long way to go.

Hertford County High School’s varsity girls improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Northeastern Coastal Conference Tuesday night with a 48-45 win over the Lady Eagles of Northeastern High School.

While pleased to be undefeated and with the win, first-year skipper Justin Frederes knows there is still much to do for the Lady Bears.

“I am very proud of our girls,” he said. “It is always big to win on the road and, as we move forward, we are looking to improve every day. This is a great start, but we have a long way to go.”

The Lady Bears were led by Camryn Jones who had 13 points while Brandi Burden added 10 points.

The third quarter was the most important for the Lady Bears as they opened up a five-point halftime lead to nine.

The period started with a free throw by Jasmine Nixon for Northeastern, but the Lady Bears rolled off the next six unanswered. Deondra Morrison started the spurt and was followed by back-to-back hoops from Jones and Briante Bond to make it 31-21.

The Lady Eagles came right back, however, getting a hoop from Darreon Cole and free throws by Brandi Williams and Nixon as they closed within 31-27.

Hertford County scored six of the final seven points of the quarter getting two buckets from Takia Williams and one from Burden as they pulled away to a 37-28 lead after three quarters.

The Lady Eagles scored five of the first seven points of the fourth quarter to close within 39-33, but the Lady Bears got free throws from Jones and Morrison to open the lead back up to nine 43-33 with 4:49 to play in the game.

Northeastern kept the pressure on by scoring five points in a row over two minutes to get within five (44-39), but the Bears got a pair of free throws from Bond and one from Jones to get the lead back to six (47-41) with 1:49 to play.

The Lady Bears then sealed the victory with a Burden free throw with 22 seconds left.

In addition to those in double figures, the Bears got seven points from Bond and five from Morrison. Sherniece Futrell and Williams scored four each while Chinn had three and Edwards added two points.

Nixon led the Lady Eagles with 26 points while Williams added nine.

Northeastern started the game with back-to-back hoops from Cole and Nixon, but the Lady Bears came back with four points from Jones to tie the score.

The teams battled back-and-forth over the rest of the quarter with the Lady Eagles taking a two-point lead thanks to a late bucket by Khadisjah Morris that made it 12-10.

The Lady Eagles pushed the lead to three as the second quarter opened, but Bond hit a hoop before a Chinn triple that gave the Bears the lead. Burden added a field goal that made it 17-13 in favor of HCHS.

Nixon, however, scored three straight buckets for Northeastern and Brea Godfrey added a free throw to push the Lady Eagles ahead 20-17.

Hertford County responded by closing out the second quarter on an 8-0 run. Burden started the spurt with a free throw and was followed by hoops from Morrison and Futrell before Bond had a three-pointer to make it 25-20 at the intermission.

The Lady Bears (3-0) will be on the road Friday at First Flight High School.