WINDSOR – It was an early exit.

Hertford County High School had one of its lowest offense outputs in recent history Tuesday night and was eliminated from the Northeastern Coastal Conference tournament by Pasquotank County High School. The Panthers beat HCHS 47-35 in the first round of the tournament held at Bertie High School.

The Bears never got going offensively in the contest, scoring just seven points in each of the first three quarters.

Jordan Jones led the Bears with 10 points while Antonio Vaughan scored nine. Tyrell Gallop paced the Panthers with 14 points.

Pasquotank got the first hoop of the game on a bucket by Jaquan Respass, but the Bears responded with back-to-back hoops from Dontez Tyler and Jones to take a 4-2 advantage.

Gallop came back with a three-pointer for Pasquotank and Mauri Williams added a hoop to give the Panthers a 7-4 lead.

HCHS tied the contest on a three-point play from Vaughan, but Delinte Gallop added a field goal to give the Panthers a 9-7 lead after one quarter.

T. Gallop converted a three-point play early in the second quarter to give Pasquotank a five-point edge, but the Bears erased the deficit on a three-pointer by Vaughan and a hoop by Jones.

The Panthers came back with consecutive hoops from Jeron Moore and Respass to take a 16-14 lead.

Petey Boone had the final hoop of the first half to close the Bears within 16-14 at the intermission.

Jones helped Hertford County pull even with the first basket of the third period, but the Panthers rolled off the next seven unanswered. T. Gallop started the run followed by a hoop from Williams and free throws from the same players.

Tyler stopped the spurt with a three-point play that closed the HCHS deficit to 23-19, but the Panthers again went on a tear, this time scoring the next nine in a row to push the lead to 32-19.

Jones scored the final basket of the third quarter to close within 32-21.

As the fourth quarter opened, Jones hit a pair at the free throw line to get the Bears’ deficit under 10, but Pasquotank went on a 7-1 run with five points scored at the charity stripe.

Shelton Simmons buried a three-pointer for the Bears to get within 39-27, but Moore scored again for the Panthers.

Boone then hit a triple to get the Bears within 11 points (41-30), but that was as close as they would get.

The Panthers hit 3-of-4 at the line to go up by 14 until Derrick Perry scored for the Bears. The Panthers then got a bucket from D. Gallop and a free throw by T. Gallop to lead 47-32.

Vaughan hit a three-pointer for the Bears to close out the scoring, but it wasn’t enough as HCHS fell to 12-7 on the season.