WINDSOR – The battles are always great.

Friday night was no exception.

Bertie High School and Hertford County High School locked horns on the hardwood Friday for the second time this season – but this one was for a win in the Northeastern Coastal Conference.

Like the first outing, however, it was HCHS that came out on top, defeating the arch rival Falcons 61-56 to earn their third league win. The loss dropped Bertie one game behind Northeastern and HCHS, the league’s co-leaders.

Dontez Tyler led the charge for the Bears with 22 points; one of four HCHS players in double figures. The others were Jordan Jones (15), Petey Boone (10) and Dekimis Perry (10).

The Falcons countered with Wykevin Bazemore’s game-high 23 points to go with 18 from from Norman Cherry.

Bertie held a 44-41 advantage late in the third quarter, but the Bears used a pair of free throws by Jordan Jones and a three-point play from Tyler to take a 46-44 lead by the end of the period.

The Falcons battled back as the fourth quarter opened with Bazemore and Cherry hitting back-to-back shots to give Bertie a 48-46 lead.

Jones and Perry combined to hit four from the charity stripe as they pushed the Bears back out in front 50-48 with 4:02 to play.

Bazemore then converted two at the foul line and Travanti Wiggins added a bucket to give Bertie a 52-50 lead.

Tyler tied the game on his hoop with 2:35 to play just before Bazemore and Tyler scored two each to leave the game knotted – now at 54 – with 1:52 to go.

Bazemore gave the Falcons their final lead at 56-54, but just seconds later Boone hit two from the free throw line to tie the game for the final time with 1:29 to play.

From there, the Bears converted five free throws from the charity stripe to seal the victory.

It was Hertford County that started the contest well, scoring the first four points thanks to a hoop from D’Isaac Jordan and a pair of free throws from Tyler.

Ryan Daye stopped the Falcons’ scoreless streak with a free throw before Bazemore ended the drought from the floor with a hoop that cut the deficit to 4-3.

Jones then hit consecutive shots to push HCHS ahead 8-3, but Cherry hit two free throws and Bazemore scored from the floor to close it back to one (8-7).

Jones and Marques Outlaw exchanged buckets before Perry converted a three-point play to give the Bears a 13-9 edge.

Cherry’s hoop before the quarter was over made it 13-11, Bears, heading into the second quarter.

The Teams continued to exchange buckets until Drashawn Morris tied the game at 18-all.

The Bears then scored 14 of the next 18 points to claim a 10-point lead (32-22). Perry and Tyler both had three-point plays and Jordan added a hoop for the Bears answered only by free throws from Bazemore and Cherry.

Wiggins added a free throw for the Falcons just before intermission to cut the Bertie deficit to 32-23.

The lead was 10 again early in the third quarter when Tyler scored from the floor and Jones added a free throw. It stayed near that point until Cherry buried a three-pointer and Malcolm Cherry added a hoop to close the gap to 39-33.

The last Cherry hoop sparked an 11-0 run for the Falcons that led them to a 42-39 edge. Bazemore did much of the damage with five points on the spurt. Malcolm and Norman Cherry added the other hoops.

Jones finally stopped the fun with a bucket for HCHS, but N. Cherry scored again and the Falcons led 44-41.

The win boosted the Bears to 11-3 overall and 3-1 inside the Northeastern Coastal Conference. They will host Edenton in another league game Friday.

Bertie fell to 4-2 in the league with the loss. They will welcome First Flight on Friday.