North Duplin’s Addy Higginbotham, left, tries to knock the ball away from Rosewood’s Avery Ramsey during first-half play. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Reece Outlaw, right, tallies two of her team- and game-high 19 points against Rosewood. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Abigail Norris, back, ties up Rosewood’s Allie Henderson on a rebound. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin center Tateyawna Faison, middle, can’t hang onto the ball, which is knocked away by Rosewood’s Mi’Ari Batts. Also defending are the Eagles’ Avery Ramsey (23) and Hayley Bedford (12). (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s five starters, from left, Addy Higginbotham, senior Valaja Wallace, senior Meghan Martin, senior Reece Outlaw and junior Tateyawna Faison, wait for the starting lineup to be announced. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin junior Addy Higginbotham is the latest Rebel to join the 1,000-point club in basketball. She was recognized for her achievement Tuesday evening during second-quarter play against Rosewood. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
CALYPSO — Welcome to the 1,000-point club, Addy Higginbotham.
A testament in consistency, the junior point guard became the third North Duplin hoopster to reach the pinnacle achievement on the hardwood this season.
During a second-quarter timeout Tuesday evening, she received a game ball to commemorate her milestone. Higginbotham scored nine points in a 58-19 rout of Rosewood, which boosted her career total to 1,024.
“She had it last Tuesday night,” ND head coach John Oliver said. “That’s my fault. If my assistant coach [Sandy McCarty] hadn’t told me to check, I wouldn’t have known. I started to add it up and she had already gotten 1,000.”
Higginbotham joins an elite group of scorers that includes current teammate Reece Outlaw, DuJuan Armwood, Tina Ammons and All-American Anthony Oliver — just to name a few.
In her latest outing, the multi-sport athlete wound up one point shy of a triple-double that included season highs in assists (10) and rebounds (10).
Oliver admitted the Rebels started in disjointed fashion.
The two-time defending Carolina 1A regular-season champions found themselves deadlocked 5-5 late in the opening quarter. Rosewood’s deliberate slow-down tactic prevented North Duplin from breaking open the game.
However, the Rebels switched defensive strategies and took command with a 13-0 run. Higginbotham doled out three assists during the offensive surge. Tateyawna Faison received one of those passes and converted a pair of offensive putbacks.
The daughter of Ammons, Faison ended the night with a double-double — 12 points, 10 rebounds. The junior center also blocked four shots and picked the Eagles for three steals.
“There was some tension early,” said Oliver, whose team led 29-10 at halftime. “Overall, I thought we played pretty well. I didn’t get everybody in [to play] like I wanted to tonight. The girls were kind of slow to start the second half, but they got going again.”
Outlaw dropped in a team- and game-high 19 points for the Rebels, who remained unbeaten in nine home contests this season. The University of North Carolina softball signee pulled down six rebounds and collected five steals.
Lilly Fulghum provided eight points, six steals and six rebounds. Meghan Martin (three rebounds), senior Valaja Wallace, Abigail Norris (four rebounds) and Eva Quintanilla provided one bucket apiece.
Liliana White contributed one free throw.
North Duplin (14-7 overall, 7-2 Carolina) concludes regular-season play Thursday at Hobbton. Oliver’s team has secured an opening-round bye for next week’s conference tournament.
