GATESVILLE – They had to settle for a 32-point win.

The Gates County Red Barons went after the century mark in scoring against Perquimans County, but didn’t hit triple digits thanks to the officials calling off the final two minutes of the game for player and fan safety.

The Red Barons upped their record to 5-1 in the Coastal-10 Conference and stayed on the heels of Plymouth in the league race with their 92-60 victory over the Pirates.

Tahjee Elliott scored over half his team’s points – 34 – but it wasn’t hardly enough for Perquimans.  He was the only Pirate in double-figures.

Five Gates County players scored in double figures as ten Red Barons got their names in the scorebook.  Dontrell Watford’s 22 led the attack with 17 from Paul Gary, 14 from Leslie Wolfrey, a dozen more from Josh Reid, and 11 for Daniel Carlos.  The other five Gates players scored 16 points between them.

It was up-and-down the court in the first quarter as Gates raced out to an 8-0 lead and didn’t look back.  They had a 10-point lead, 12-2, in the first two minutes, doubled the score, 18-9, with a minute and a half remaining and were ahead, 26-19, after the first quarter.

Perquimans cut it to a five-point deficit when Shamon Holder made a bucket to open the second quarter. Gates scored 11 of the game’s next nine to lead it, 37-24.  The Pirates cut it to 10, 41-31, before Gates pressed and ran some more making it 51-36 at halftime.

Perquimans whittled that deficit down to 10, 53-43, in the first minute and a half of the third before Gates went on another run and had their lead back up to 16.  They closed out the frame with an 8-3 run for a 71-52 lead entering the fourth.

Even Coach Wayne Hathaway clearing his bench couldn’t cool off the Red Barons. The reserves kept the scoreboard operator busy with a 13-3 start to the fourth quarter that yielded an 84-57 score.   A Tomas Robinson put back made it a 31-point lead, 89-58.  Trailing 89-60 with three minutes left Cole Stallings made a three-point play.  Perquimans then held the ball for one minute.  On a Gates County hard foul a brawl erupted that ended the game with two minutes left as referees and security made the decision to end the game.

Gates ups their overall to 10-2 with only a loss to Manteo on their conference sheet.  They have road games later this week with Mattamuskeet and first-place Plymouth.