AHOSKIE – The Bears continue to do what they do best – win.

Hertford County High School scored Northeastern Coastal Conference win number nine Friday night, easily dispatching Northeastern High School by a final of 56-37.

The Hertford County defense gave up just eight points in the final quarter as they defeated the Eagles and improved to 16-3 for the season.

HCHS mentor Charles Simmons said he was pleased with his team on both ends of the floor.

“I was very pleased with our defensive effort,” he said. “They got in the double bonus pretty quickly and we had several people with four fouls. That forced us to switch people around and I thought the kids gave a great defensive effort.

“I was also happy with our patience in the second half,” Simmons continued. “We got a big lead, but with foul trouble, we made adjustments on the offensive end as well. The kids did a good job of being patient and looking for a good shot.”

Wayne Simmons was the only Hertford County player in double figures with 16 points. The rest of the squad offered balanced scoring with eight HCHS players scoring during the win.

The contest was close in the first quarter with the Bears rallying from an early 10-6 deficit to score the final eight points of the period.

Brian Beale and Shabazz Atkins started the run with back-to-back hoops. They were followed by a three-pointer from Jquwan Ruffin and a free throw by Simmons as the Bears took a 14-10 lead.

Northeastern tied the game when Aaron Carver and Marquis Whidbee hit consecutive shots to open the third quarter, but Simmons responded with a three-pointer that gave the Bears the lead for good.

The teams exchanged hoops before the Bears rolled off six straight on field goals from Atkins, Maurice Earley and Kevin Privott to lead 26-19 at the intermission.

The home team continued to pull away in the third quarter when they put together a 10-2 spurt midway through the period.

Simmons had a triple while Willie Bass added a field goal and then Dwight Vaughan scored all five of his points consecutively with a triple and a bucket to give the Bears a 42-26 lead.

From there, the HCHS defense took over, allowing the Eagles to score just 11 points the rest of the contest en route to the conference victory.

In addition to Simmons’ 16 points, the Bears got eight from Atkins, seven from Ruffin and six each from Beale and Bass. Vaughan had five points while Earley and Privott scored four points each.

Carver paced Northeastern with 18 points and Karem Felton added 10 points.