North Duplin’s Eli Morrisey, left, and Richard Noble, right, trap Bear Grass guard Brayden Taylor near the Rebels’ bench during first-half action Wednesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Second-year North Duplin head basketball coach Jeff Byrd, black shirt, talks with Eli Morrisey and Richard Noble during a second-half timeout. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin senior Billy McCoy, left, tries to prevent Bear Grass Charter’s Cayden Council from dribbling toward the basket Wednesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Bear Grass Charter’s Drew Hayes eyes the basket as North Duplin’s Levi George defends. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Adaisha Bernal, right, attempts to knock the ball away from Bear Grass Charter’s Callee Perry during second-quarter play Wednesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Bear Grass Charter guard Lauren Asby tries to keep control of the ball while North Duplin sophomore Addy Higginbotham watches from behind. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
CALYPSO — North Duplin’s first two offensive possessions foretold what turned into a disastrous outing against Bear Grass Charter on the hardwood Wednesday evening.
The Rebels missed seven consecutive shots — all within three feet of the basket.
“Point blank [range],” ND head coach Jeff Byrd said.
It didn’t get any better.
Bear Grass, the reigning Atlantic 5 champion, bolted to a 9-0 lead and kept that momentum in a 54-37 victory.
North Duplin endured its first loss in five contests this season.
Byrd watched as the Bears did what the Rebels have done to their previous opponents — play defense, crash the boards, protect the ball and attack the paint.
“They’ve got a good basketball team, fundamentally sound,” Byrd attested. “I bet we missed 40 shots. It’s not like when you shoot in practice. It’s a little different in a game. When we miss shots around the goal, we can’t set up anything on defense.”
The Bears (5-1 overall) extended their 11-point advantage after the opening quarter to 20 by halftime.
North Duplin (4-1) closed to within 45-29 late in the third quarter.
“I thought we rattled them a little bit in the second half, played a little harder…some of them,” Byrd said. “We didn’t have a lot of turnovers because we had a lot of shots. We just missed too many.”
Freshman Trashawn Ruffin emerged as the Rebels’ top scorer with nine points. Levi George and Richard Noble contributed eight points apiece, while Cole Beavers and Ashton Law each scored four points.
Girls
North Duplin stretched its regular-season win streak to 14 with a 62-34 conquest of the Bears.
The contest featured four ties and three lead changes in the opening quarter before the Rebels (5-0 overall) amped up their defense and seized command with an 11-0 run.
“Very happy to get through this one,” ND head coach John Oliver said. “I thought we played well. We still have little things we need to improve on.”
Turnovers, missed shots and physical play defined the non-conference outing. The teams combined for 46 fouls, 17 held-ball possessions and 53 free throw attempts.
The Rebels led by 10 at halftime and 20 after three periods.
North Duplin junior Reece Outlaw stuffed her stat sheet with 23 points, seven steals and four assists. Backcourt mate Addy Higginbotham contributed 20 points, three assists and nine steals.
Lilly Fulghum just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
JV boys
Tev Collins and Luke Kelly knocked down 13 points apiece as North Duplin rolled to a 55-19 win.
Anthony Kornegay added eight points for the Rebels, who remained unbeaten at 5-0.
North Duplin is the guest of Lejeune today.
