North Duplin senior Cole Beavers (12) gets a hand in the face of Rosewood’s Jaelen Solomon on a first-quarter shot Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Trashawn Ruffin (54) and Levi George (20) stop a Rosewood player from getting to the basket during their Carolina 1A game at Rosewood on Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Rosewood’s Jaelen Solomon (35) gets triple-teamed by North Duplin’s Cole Beavers (12), Trashawn Ruffin (54) and Thomas Morrisey (42) on his way to the basket Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Tateyawna Faison (12) gets her shot blocked, but drew a foul against Rosewood’s Skyler Lassiter during their Carolina 1A game Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin junior Reece Outlaw, with ball, is defended by Rosewood’s Katlyn Vernon during first-half action of their game Tuesday evening. Outlaw scored and finished the game with 18 points. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Meghan Martin (3) looks for an open teammate after grabbing a rebound Tuesday evening. Martin helped lead the Rebels to their 18th win of the season and secure the Carolina 1A regular-season title outright. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin sophomore Addy Higginbotham fires from 3-point range against Rosewood on Tuesday evening. Higginbotham collected 19 points for the Rebels, who have won 18 of their last 19 regular-season contests against Carolina 1A opposition. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Brady Byrd (14) and Cole Beavers (12) play defense against Rosewood guard David Lamm on Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin senior Ashton Lane and Rosewood multi-sport athlete Dalton Philppeau battle for possession of a loose ball during their Carolina 1A game Tuesday evening. Lane emerged as the Rebels’ top scorer with nine points. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
GOLDSBORO — North Duplin officially checked off two boxes on its season-long “to-do” list.
The Rebels clinched the 2023 Carolina Conference 1A girls’ regular-season basketball crown outright with a 60-36 decision over pesky Rosewood on Tuesday evening. North Duplin (18-1 overall, 9-0 Carolina) seized the league’s automatic qualifying berth for the NC High School Athletic Association playoffs, which begin in late February.
“I’m happy about the two championships we’ve got, which hasn’t happened for North Duplin basketball in a long time,” said Rebels head coach John Oliver. “Now my talk tomorrow [in practice] is do you want it bad enough to win two [tournaments]? Now we’ve got the championship tournament, which means where we get seeded in the state [playoffs].”
There’s still work to do, however.
Despite the double-digit road win, Oliver pointed out two issues: turnovers and rebounds, both have bothered the team throughout the season.
Oliver expects miscues in the team’s scramble-style offense.
Boxing out on the boards has given him a few extra gray hairs this season.
“We’ve got to do a drill of some kind where instead of watching the ball, we need to turn around and block somebody out, yet we don’t do it,” Oliver said.
The Rebels built a 22-point advantage in the first half.
Rosewood aggressively attacked the offensive glass, capitalized on unforced North Duplin turnovers and closed the gap to 33-20 by halftime.
Oliver, again, stressed ball control and rebounds.
His group responded with a quick surge that grounded any further comeback attempts by the Eagles. North Duplin earned its fifth consecutive victory in the series, but just its 10th overall in 31 tries since 2010.
Addy Higginbotham paced the Rebels with 19 points and six assists. Reece Outlaw tallied 18 points, seven steals and five assists. Kasey Jones delivered five points off the bench.
Sophomore forward Tateyawna Faison flirted with a triple-double — 11 points, 18 rebounds and eight blocked shots. Frontcourt mates Meghan Martin and Lily Fulghum pulled down seven and three rebounds, respectively.
Boys
Backcourt mates Ty Waltman and David Lamm flexed their muscles beyond the 3-point arc. Each scored 12 points during the Eagles’ 59-32 romp.
Rosewood did what North Duplin didn’t.
The Eagles moved the ball effectively, crashed the boards, played defense and flourished in their transition game.
Meanwhile, the Rebels consistently struggled on both ends of the court. They missed all 10 shots from the floor and committed six turnovers in the disastrous opening period.
Eli Morrisey drained two free throws for North Duplin, which trailed 14-2.
Ashton Lane’s second-quarter, offensive putback ended the Rebels’ drought of 8 1/2 minutes without a field goal. One of eight seniors on the ND roster, Langston concluded the night with a team-high nine points.
Morrisey and Richard Noble knocked down six points apiece.
The Rebels (7-13, 2-7) fell to 3-30 in 33 meetings against the Eagles since 2006.
JV boys
The teams did not play due to a lack of officials.
School administrators said the game will not be rescheduled.
North Duplin concludes regular-season play at home Thursday against conference rival Hobbton. Tip-off is 4:30 p.m.
