AHOSKIE – Bertie High School has won back-to-back tournament title here.

The Lady Falcons served notice they are a force to be reckoned with again Tuesday night during the opening round of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald Holiday Classic sponsored by United Country Joe Murray Realty as they defeated Gates County 54-33.

Equalia Vines led the Lady Falcons as one of three Bertie players in double figures. Vines had 16 points to go along with 13 from Devonna Bond and 10 by Satora Swain.

BHS took the early lead with consecutive hoops by Vines and Tierra Brown and pulled out to an 8-3 edge by the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Falcons then opened the second quarter on a 4-0 run, but Gates County responded with a 7-0 spurt of their own to get within 12-10. Javon Parks had four of the seven points for the Barons.

Shakilya Rascoe then hit back-to-back hoops for Bertie followed by a free throw from Bond to push the Falcon advantage to 17-10.

They eventually tallied a 21-13 advantage by the intermission.

The Lady Barons rallied to get within four early in the second half when Jalisa Bradley, Desiree Hurdle and Parks hit consecutive shots to trim the GCHS deficit to 23-19.

Bertie, however, responded with an 18-4 run to close out the third quarter and all but seal the victory.

Laquetta Leary started the run and was followed quickly by scores from Swain and Bond.

The closing scores of the run came from Bond, Swain and Vines as the Lady Falcons secured a 43-24 edge after three quarters.

Bertie continued the run into the fourth quarter, scoring eight of the first 10 points. Vines scored four of the total with Swain and Brown adding the other four.

The result was a solid victory for the Lady Falcons as they head into another championship game at the News-Herald Classic.

The Girl’s Championship is slated for 6:30 p.m. Thursday night at HCHS.

Lady Falcons (54): Equalia Vines n 16, Devonna Bond n 13, Satora Swain n 10, T. Brown n 6, L. Leary n 4, S. Rascoe n 4, S. Brown n 1

Lady Barons (33): Jalisa Bradley n 13, D. Hurdle n 9, J. Parks n 6, M. Jordan n 4, J. Jordan – 1