North Duplin’s Branson Martin, right, drives to the basket against Neuse Charter’s Jayden Atkinson during their Carolina 1A Conference basketball game Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Donovan Armwood (44) has his shot contested by a pair Neuse Charter defenders. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Dylan Tyndall attempts a free throw against Neuse Charter. Tyndall scored eight points, all in the second quarter. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Donovan Armwood drives to the basket during second-half action against Neuse Charter. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin senior Donovan Armwood was recognized for reaching the 1,000-point plateau for his career before tip-off against Neuse Charter. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
CALYPSO — A relentless defensive effort allowed North Duplin to finally remove a nagging thorn from its side Friday evening.
Jeff Byrd couldn’t have been more pleased.
The Rebels overcame a sluggish start and pounded two-time defending Carolina 1A champion Neuse Charter, 65-48.
“I told our guys this was probably our biggest game of the year because this team had beat us early in the season,” said Byrd, whose group convincingly halted a seven-game skid against the Cougars.
Before tip-off, athletics director Ricky Edwards recognized senior guard DuJuan Armwood for surpassing the 1,000-point plateau in his previous outing at Hobbton three nights earlier.
Armwood collected a team-leading 18 points against Neuse Charter, which remained winless (0-8) in road contests this season.
The Cougars led 16-12 after one quarter.
North Duplin stayed within striking distance and seized command with 13-3 run that lasted five-plus minutes. Dylan Tyndall’s open-court layup from Armwood ignited the surge that helped create a 34-25 halftime advantage.
Tyndall ended the night with eight points.
“I thought we started out kind of sluggish, got out of rhythm,” Byrd said. “We put a new defense in and we played it for a while. A lot of times you put something [new] in, but eventually you go back to what has been working for you.”
The Rebels’ harassing man-to-man defense paid dividends throughout the second half. They continued to stretch their double-digit advantage and wear down the Cougars, who had just two reserves on the bench.
Byrd also commended his team’s effort against Jayvin Bradley, the conference’s top scorer at 27-plus points per game. Bradley logged 18 points in the scorebook, but wasn’t an offensive threat compared to the teams’ previous meeting in mid-January.
“We didn’t let him get hot,” Byrd said. “We wanted to double [team] him, force him to take some bad shots and distribute the ball.”
Junior guard Luke Kelly poured in 15 points for the Rebels, who rose to 5-1 in conference play — the program’s best start since the 2018-19 season when Edwards guided the team.
Branson Martin and Donovan Armwood collected 10 points apiece.
North Duplin (9-9 overall) plays three of its final four conference games at home, including a matchup against Lakewood next Tuesday.
“We have to take it one game at a time [and] take care of business at home,” Byrd said.
