North Duplin’s Cole Beavers, left, tries to force Spring Creek’s Emerson Cabrera into a turnover during their game in Calypso on Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin sophomore Addy Higginbotham, left, draws a foul against Spring Creek’s Carmen Montoya during third-quarter play Friday evening. Higginbotham scored 10 points in the Rebels’ 47-23 win. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Kasey Jones (24) grabs a rebound against Spring Creek’s Aaliyah Kornegay (23) while teammate Tateyawna Faison watches in the background. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin senior Ashton Lawson chats with head coach Jeff Byrd during a stoppage of play in the fourth quarter Friday evening. The Rebels snapped a five-game losing streak with a 73-26 win. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Lily Fulghum (22) and Spring Creek’s Heather Alexander battle for a rebound Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Spring Creek’s Emerson Cabrera, right, stiff arms North Duplin defender Billy McCoy to create some room on the baseline Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin senior Richard Noble, left, attempts to knock the ball away from Spring Creek’s Emerson Cabrera during second-half play Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin guard Brady Byrd directs the offense during second-half play Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Addy Higginbotham, right, drives the baseline against Spring Creek’s Vanessa Duruttya during second-half action Friday evening.
Spring Creek’s Heather Alexander grabs a rebound against North Duplin defender Lily Brothers on Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Spring Creek’s Victoria Avila (20) and North Duplin’s Tateyawna Faison battle for rebound position during a second-half free throw attempt Friday evening. Faison snared a career-high 19 rebounds in the Rebels’ win. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
CALYPSO — North Duplin looked like a runaway train during its non-conference battle against Spring Creek on Friday evening.
A hawking 1-2-1-1 full-court press fueled the engine.
Senior forward Richard Noble conducted it down the track. He scored 14 points during a game-opening, 23-0 run, and the Rebels chugged their way to a 73-26 victory.
“I think defensively we are playing better and that was the key tonight,” ND head coach Jeff Byrd said. “Most of the time when we jump out [to a lead], we kind of let people back in. We kept up the intensity and that was a plus.”
Spring Creek logged its first seven points at the free throw line.
The Gators converted their first field goal, a coast-to-coast layup by Brennan Chambers, with 34.9 seconds remaining before halftime. Chambers paced SC with 15 points.
“North Duplin plays really hard,” Gators head coach Daniel Krentz said. “They’ve always played that way and I admire that a lot about them. When they came out pressing and playing hard, being such a young team like we are, it was really hard for us to match up with them … hard to match their physicality and their effort.”
Noble turned in a 23-point effort for North Duplin, which collected its third consecutive triumph over the Gators. Spring Creek leads the series 24-7 since 2008.
Miles Branch dropped in four 3-pointers. Eli Morrisey tallied 11 points. Levi George (six points), Brady Byrd (five points) and Trashawn Ruffin (four points) helped the Rebels snap a five-game skid.
Girls
Armed with confidence after a one-point conquest of Rosewood two nights earlier, Spring Creek gave lethargic and turnover-plagued North Duplin fits before falling 47-23.
The Gators grabbed an early, 8-2 lead.
Frustrated with their mistake-filled start, the Rebels answered with a 15-1 run. Emily Williams’ 3-pointer off Ariyana Willis’ assist capped a 7-0 surge that pulled SC to within 17-16 just before halftime.
ND led 20-16 at the break.
“I could tell in practice [after the holidays] we were rusty,” Rebels head coach John Oliver said. “I was hoping we’d play Jones Senior [last Tuesday], which would have been a practice game. I think we would have played better tonight if we had played them.
“We would have been back in the groove.”
The game was cancelled.
Despite foul trouble, poor free throw shooting and the inability to finish around the basket, North Duplin (8-1 overall) stretched its advantage to 39-18 after three quarters.
The Rebels converted just 18 of 39 (46.1 percent) free throw attempts for the game.
Oliver stressed the “little things” would be revisited in practice this week.
“We came out, had a good first half and slowed them down a little bit because they like to run … wanted them to play our pace,” SC head coach Paul Hayes said. “I told the girls I thought we played great defensively. Sometimes it’s hard to get going offensively when your legs are tired and your shots are off.
“We are getting better and that’s all you can ask of the girls.”
Tateyawna Faison pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds and scored six points. Reece Outlaw emerged as the Rebels’ top scorer with 16 points. Addy Higginbotham contributed 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Lily Brothers (six points) and Barton softball signee Kasey Jones (four points) helped the Rebels pick up their third consecutive win over the Gators. SC leads the series 17-5 since 2010.
Heather Alexander tallied 10 points for the Gators. Williams supplied seven points, while Willis had four.
JV boys
Brandon Martin led three players in double figures with 20 points during the Rebels’ 78-38 triumph.
Tev Collins provided 18 points for North Duplin, which improved to 9-1 overall and extended its modest win streak to two games. Anthony Kornegay tallied 11. Sophomore Luke Kelly scratched for nine points in the scorebook.
Lucas Dail, Garris Warren, Rahmear Coates and Kayden Bowden also contributed offensively for the Rebels.
Jackson Rose paced the Gators’ offense with 18 points.
The former Carolina 1A rivals launch their respective conference campaigns next week. North Duplin welcomes Neuse Charter on Tuesday. Spring Creek plays host to North Johnston in Neuse Six 2A action Monday.
