ELIZABETH CITY – Things were going well through three quarters.

Unfortunately for Hertford County High School, then came period number four. In that stanza, third-seeded Northeastern High School rallied back from a five-point deficit to defeat the Lady Bears 46-37 in the semifinals of the Northeastern Coastal Conference tournament.

Hertford County entered the fourth quarter ahead 29-24 and Camaryn Jones quickly added to the advantage with back-to-back scores that gave the Bears a 33-24 lead with 7:01 to play in the game.

Northeastern wasn’t done, however, as the Lady Eagles got a three-point play and a field goal from Jasmine Nixon to close the gap to 33-29.

Sherniece Futrell then scored for the Bears, but it was the last score for HCHS until after Northeastern had taken the lead.

Nixon and Tia Moore-Carver each hit free throws before the two each scored a hoop that tied the game at 35-all. The dagger came when Taylor Jernigan scored from behind the arc to give Northeastern a 38-35 lead.

Brandi Burden stopped the Eagles’ spurt with a bucket, but it was the last time the Bears would score.

Moore-Carver, Nixon and Sha’Niqua Gray each had scores to push the Northeastern lead to 42-37 and then they held on to the victory.

Nixon led all scorers with 18 points while Gray had 10 for Eagles. Moore-Carver and Jernigan had nine each.

Hertford County was paced by Jones with 15 and Futrell with 14. Burden added eight.

The Lady Bears led early when Burden scored as the first quarter ended to send HCHS into the second period with a 9-6 lead.

Hertford County added to the lead in that quarter thanks to a 7-2 run late in the period. Futrell, Jones and Burden all scored during the spurt, giving the Bears a 21-14 advantage at the intermission.

Northeastern cut into the lead early in the third quarter when Gray led a 6-1 spurt that closed the gap to 22-20.

Hertford County came back with a hoop and a free throw from Futrell as they pushed the lead back to five (25-20).

After a pair of free throws from Jernigan, Futrell and Jones hit back-to-back shots for the Bears and gave HCHS a 29-22 lead. They led 29-24 at the end of the quarter.

The loss dropped the Bears to 15-8 overall during the season. They will be back in action next week when they participate in the first round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3-A playoffs.