North Duplin junior Luke Kelly (34) goes up for two as an East Duplin defender attempts to block his shot during second-half action Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin senior Dylan Tyndall, left, drives the baseline against East Duplin’s Calvin Harper during their non-conference game in Calypso Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin senior DuJuan Armwood, front, scrambles for a loose ball underneath East Duplin’s basket Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Branson Martin, left, gets fouled by East Duplin’s Jeremiah Judge on a second-half play underneath the basket Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
CALYPSO — During its season-opening loss to Lejeune, North Duplin rushed its offense and tried to force things on the defensive end during the fourth quarter.
Friday evening was different.
The Rebels displayed patience, didn’t gamble and pulled off a signature win against a Duplin County rival before a boisterous crowd.
DuJuan Armwood paced a balanced scoring attack with 13 points as the Rebels turned back East Duplin, 67-53. The long-awaited triumph snapped a nine-game skid in the series and gave North Duplin just its second win over the Panthers in 12 tries since 2014.
“It’s a huge win against a county foe, a 2A basketball team,” ND head coach Jeff Byrd said. “Like I told them a while ago [in the locker room], you enjoy it like you want to enjoy it. I think this is something we can build on. They’re physical, they’re strong and we really didn’t back down.
“I was proud of that.”
Consecutive offensive putbacks from senior transfer Dylan Tyndall and Armwood sparked a 10-2 run to end the opening half. The Rebels headed into intermission with a 27-21 advantage.
The surge carried over into the third period.
Tyndall’s uncontested layup, Brady Byrd’s kiss off the glass from Armwood and Ruffin’s weakside offensive putback helped extend the Rebels’ lead to 38-27.
Coach Byrd gushed over his team’s unselfish play.
“We really moved the ball well, had six or seven passes at times,” he said.
A defensive tactic aided the Rebels’ cause.
Byrd employed a man-to-man scheme against Lejeune, which executed well and scored on nearly every possession.
He decided to play zone against East Duplin.
The ploy worked and the fatigue the Rebels showed three nights earlier didn’t surface often. Byrd did have to work around foul trouble, but bench depth allowed North Duplin (1-1 overall) to maintain its lead.
“That saved our legs a little bit,” Byrd said. “I don’t think we were as tired in the fourth quarter. Being able to change defenses and I think we rebounded pretty good [proved critical]. I thought we did good on the fast break getting the ball up court.”
Calvin Harper’s 3-pointer pulled the Panthers to within 48-43 barely 90 seconds into the final stanza. Tyndall hit the back end of a two-shot foul and his 3-pointer, off Ruffin’s assist, made it 52-43 with 5:17 to go.
Armwood’s 3-pointer off Kelly’s assist created a 55-45 lead.
East Duplin (0-1) never threatened from that point.
Branson Martin added 11 points for the Rebels, while Tyndall finished with nine. Ruffin scratched for eight points, while Micah Lesanane chipped in six. Thomas Morrisey and senior Xander Mele provided five points apiece.
Harper led all scorers with 28 points.
North Duplin continues its season-opening, four-game home stretch with a non-conference date against Jones Senior on Tuesday.
