AHOSKIE – Off to their best start in three years, Hertford County High’s girl’s basketball team notched their second win of the season Tuesday night with a 57-33 victory over Northside High of Pinetown.

Tytionnia Smith led three HCHS players –and all scorers – in double-figures with 22 points.  Kyara Rodgers added 14 while Ashonta Basnight pumped in 10.

Alex Adams had 10 points to lead Northside.

Hertford County blew out to a big lead by scoring the first 10 points in a row, four of them from Basnight, before the Panthers even got on the scoreboard.  Northside scored the last two field goals in a row to trail 10-4 after one quarter.

The Panthers kept up the momentum and trimmed their deficit to 10-9 early in the second quarter.  They would outscore the Lady Bears 9-2, fighting back to take a one-point lead, 13-12.  But Smith hit a bank shot for Hertford County to re-take the lead and with neither team able to establish a run before halftime to pull away it was a four-point lead, 22-18, that Hertford County held at the mid-break.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Smith early in the third quarter ballooned the Bear lead to eight, 28-20.  Smith banged in another trey – her third of the quarter – en route to a 13-point effort for the entire quarter to make it 35-22.  Hertford County got up by as many as 13, 37-24, before settling in with a ten-point lead, 37-27, headed to the fourth.

Quick scores by Smith and Rodgers got the lead up to 15 points, 42-27, by the 6:45 mark.    Then with just over four minutes remaining, the Bears had upped the margin to 20 points at 49-29 with Rodgers doing much of the damage.  Rodgers would finish with a 10-point quarter to help the Bears win going away by 24.

Hertford County opens conference play against Northeastern Friday, then the Lady Bears have an early evening (6 p.m.) matinee in Conway against Northampton on back-to-back dates.  The ladies are then off until the News-Herald Holiday Tournament beginning Dec. 26.