CREEKSVILLE – Hertford County had three players score 20 or more and that was enough.

The Bears topped Northampton County High School – East for the second time this season, winning 82-53 here Tuesday night.

Shabazz Atkins led the HCHS attack with 23 points while Wayne Simmons added 22 and Jquwan Ruffin was just behind with 20. Jarrett Sexton was also in double digits for the Bears with 13 while Brian Beale rounded out the scoring with four points.

Kenny Graham led the Rams with 11 points.

The game started with a Jamar Williams free throw for the Rams, but Hertford County rolled off the next seven in a row thanks to a triple from Atkins, a three-point play by Simmons and a Ruffin free throw.

That deluge stopped thanks to a pair of shots at the charity stripe by Williams, but HCHS got a hoop each from Atkins, Ruffin and Sexton as they pushed the lead to double digits (13-3).

Tremayne Bowser and Williams scored back-to-back hoops for the Rams before Sexton hit a free throw for HCHS. Bowser then had another score answered by a shot from the free throw line by Atkins as the Rams closed the gap to 15-9 at the end of the first quarter.

The visiting team took control in the second quarter when Sexton had back-to-back buckets followed by a Ruffin hoop that gave HCHS a 21-9 edge.

Travis Wiggins briefly stopped the run with a free throw, but HCHS got a bucket from Beale followed by four straight from Simmons as they pulled ahead 27-10.

Northampton wasn’t done, however, as the Rams got successive hoops from Travis Whitehead, Evans Grant, Williams and Bowser to pull back within 27-18.

Ruffin responded with back-to-back three-pointers and Atkins added two free throws to make it 35-18.

A Whitehead three-pointer closed the gap to 35-21 at the intermission.

Consecutive scores by Atkins and Ruffin started the third quarter and then Atkins hit a three-pointer that allowed the Bears to double up the Rams 42-21.

The rest of the quarter went pretty much the same and HCHS pulled away 61-38 by the end of the quarter. They outscored Northampton 21-15 in the final period.

The win came after the Bears downed First Flight High School 68-35 on Friday. That was a Northeastern Coastal Conference win for the Bears that kept them undefeated (3-0) in league play.

Simmons led that effort with 19 points followed by Ruffin’s dozen and 10 from Atkins. Sexton added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bears stand 7-2 overall.