Lady Bears get first win

Published 12:58 pm Monday, December 10, 2012

CREEKSVILLE – Hertford County roared to its first victory of the season here Friday.

The Lady Bears got 17 points each from Brandi Burden and Kyara Rodgers as they dropped Northampton County High School 62-29. The Lady Jaguars were paced by Shaquoria Miles with 15 points.

Hertford County opened the game with back-to-back hoops from Desiree James and Burden as they led 4-0, but Sasha Bowser stopped the run with a bucket for the Jaguars. The Lady Bears, however, responded with four more in a row – this time coming from hoops by Dalisha Speight and Rodgers.

Ananasa Joyner scored from the charity stripe for Northampton and then Miles hit a bucket as the home team closed within 8-5. That was as close as the Jaguars would get, however, as HCHS scored 11 of the final 13 points of the quarter thanks to five points from James and four from Burden. Rodgers chipped in the other hoop while Northampton got a score from Miles.

In the end, the Bears led 19-7 heading into the second quarter.

Following an exchange of scores, the Lady Bears rolled off four straight thanks to a hoop by Vanessa Mitchell and free throws from Rodgers as they surged ahead 25-9.

Miles sandwiched a pair of hoops around a Burden free throw and then scored from the charity stripe herself to get Northampton within 26-14. Mitchell then scored for the Lady Bears, but was answered by a hoop from Joyner. The final score of the half came when Bailey Nicholas hit two shots from the charity stripe to give Hertford County a 30-16 halftime lead.

Joyner surged out of the half with consecutive hoops for Northampton as the home team closed within 30-20, but James stopped the run with a field goal of her own.

Following an exchange of free throws, Margaret Peebles had a score for the Jaguars that again got the lead to 10 (33-23). Unfortunately for Northampton, it wouldn’t get closer as Hertford County went on a 7-0 run to pull away again.

Rodgers started the spurt with a field goal followed by three free throws from Mitchell and a bucket by Speight.

Northampton’s Miles stopped the spurt, but Rodgers scored again for the Bears to make it 42-25. HCHS eventually led 45-27 after three quarters.

The Hertford County offense put the game away in the fourth quarter when Burden went on a single-handed 7-0 run and was followed by a hoop from Mitchell. Burden then scored again and the Lady Bears led 56-27 with just over four minutes to play.

Miles finally stopped the spurt with a hoop at the 3:21 mark, but the Jaguars didn’t score again. HCHS closed out the game with two hoops from Rodgers and a bucket by Talisha Speight as they pulled away to the non-conference victory.