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AHOSKIE – The last time Gates County High School girls won the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald Holiday Classic, current-day head coach Hope Melton was a senior standout for the Lady Barons.

That was 1998.

The 26-year drought is now over.

Gates County rode the strength of its normal balanced offense plus its aggressive defense, one that forced 28 turnovers, en route to a 59-43 win over Northeastern High School in Monday’s championship game at the Hertford County High School gym.

Northeastern was the three-time defending champion of the 33^rd annual event.

“We set certain goals when we started pre-season practice, and winning the Holiday Classic was the first one we wanted to accomplish,” said Melton. “Getting a win against a really good Northeastern team, who had won this tournament three years in a row, gives us a big boost of confidence. But our goals still remain the same, taking it game by game, week by week.”

And what made the end result of the Holiday Classic a “team win” was the fact that the Lady Barons had to play the second half without its point guard. Kyndall Banks was injured with less than two seconds left in the second quarter and was carried off the court.

Leading 28-24 at halftime, Gates County maintained its composure without one of their main offensive/defensive weapons. The Lady Barons scored seven of the first nine points of the second half and increased their lead to 35-26. Zoey Nowell and Semayia Cross each had a basket during that time.

Northeastern got to within five (38-33) with 1:22 left in the quarter, but back-to-back baskets by London Barber rekindled the GCHS spark. Nowell kept that momentum alive when she hit a buzzer-beating basket, was fouled, and stepped to the line to complete the three-point play, allowing the Lady Barons to hold a 45-36 lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.

Zariah Rogers and Kamryn Riddick served notice early in the fourth quarter that the GCHS girls were destined to end the program’s long drought in this tournament. On back-to-back offensive possessions, both girls drilled a three-pointer from the same identical spot – the deep left corner – as the lead grew to 51-36. Northeastern never got any closer than 12 points over the game’s final seven minutes.

“Going into the locker room at halftime, we knew that Kyndall was out for the rest of the game,” Melton noted. “I told the girls to let’s finish this game for her and win it. I asked them to step up and they did exactly as I asked. They all stepped up as a team.”

Northeastern led only twice: 5-0 to start the game after a deuce from Zania Gregory and a trey by Mia Jones; and 9-8 thanks to a basket by Jones.

It was Gates County’s stifling defense that, in turn, sparked its offense. The Barons forced seven turnovers in the first period. It was Barber’s basket in transition after a turnover that gave Gates the lead for-keeps at 10-9. Riddick followed with a three-point bomb from the corner and she added another basket off a steal and assist from Nowell that allowed the Lady Barons to hold a 16-15 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Barber, who was named the Tournament MVP, scored eight of her game-high 20 points in the second quarter, which ended with the Lady Barons up 28-24.

“Despite Kyndall’s injury, we are a team on the rise,” added Melton, whose Lady Barons are off to a 10-0 start. “We have the heart of our conference schedule coming up plus we are invited to play in a showcase tournament later in January at Greene Central. That event will feature a lot of good teams and will give us a good measuring stick of what we need to improve on as we head towards the conference tournament and beyond in February and hopefully into March.”

Nowell and Banks joined their teammate on the All-Tournament team.

Jones and Jada Simpson were the Northeastern representatives on the all-tourney squad.

Also named All-Tournament were Shaniah Daniels of Roanoke Rapids, Alaya Clemons of J.H. Rose, Zynaeja Leary of Bertie, and Brooklynn White and Ariyonah Reynolds of Hertford County.

Lady Barons (59)

London Barber – 20, Kamryn Riddick – 16, Zoey Nowell – 11, Semayia Cross – 5, Zarish Rogers – 3, Zebriya Woodley – 3, Kyndall Banks – 1.

Lady Eagles (43)

Mia Jones – 13, Jada Simpson – 12, Zania Gregory – 10, Cierra Jones – 5, Gabriella Furges – 3.