North Duplin’s Lilly Fulghum (11) tips the ball away from Spring Creek guard Sarah Hess during first-half action Thursday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Spring Creek’s Sarah Hess, on floor, scrambles for a loose-ball rebound with North Duplin’s Eva Quintanilla (behind). Watching are North Duplin’s Maggie Brown (20) and the Gators’ Natalie Jackson. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin sophomore Abigeal Norris Brown looks for an open teammate after grabbing a rebound against Spring Creek center Heather Alexander. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin guard Abby Higginbotham passes the ball around Spring Creek center Heather Alexander to teammate Tateyawna Faison, who scored a layup on the play. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
SEVEN SPRINGS — After a Wednesday evening trip to Jacksonville, North Duplin’s varsity girls undoubtedly felt — and looked — a little sluggish on the hardwood early Thursday evening.
Once the Rebels woke up, they couldn’t be stopped.
Solid defensive pressure, dominant work on the glass and transition offense sparked North Duplin to a 60-39 conquest of border rival Spring Creek in “The Swamp.”
“We told them tonight we wanted to be focused, discipline, put some pressure on the ball, which we were able to do some,” Rebels head coach Jon Kornegay said. “We got into some foul trouble … faced a little adversity with Addy [Higginbotham] and Lilly [Fulghum] and Tateyawna [Faison] got sick for a little while.
“I was really proud of some of our rotational players coming in to play some big minutes for us offensively, but especially defensively.”
The Gators jumped ahead 4-0.
The Rebels answered with an 8-0 run, only to see SC rally for an 8-8 tie. Physical play led to fouls — particularly against Higginbotham, Fulghum and the Gators’ duo of senior Heather Alexander and Trinity Daniels.
Each picked up two quick fouls.
Kornegay gambled, however. He employed a full-court diamond defense that completely disrupted Spring Creek’s offense. The 8-8 deadlock turned into a 23-11 advantage for North Duplin once the first quarter concluded.
“I thought we were ready for the press, apparently we weren’t,” Gators head coach Paul Hayes said. “We got rattled a little bit, just couldn’t get settled. We’re sort of like Jekyll and Hyde right now. We’re full of emotions right now.
“When it’s good, it’s good. When it’s bad, it’s really hard to get the quarter back even.”
The Rebels extended their advantage to 38-18 by halftime.
Abigail Norris Brown polished off the second quarter with a 3-point heave past mid-court that hit nothing but net as time expired.
“We were able to generate some turnovers tonight,” Kornegay said. “We feel like we’re a pretty athletic team, but we have to understand we’re not going to be able to do that all the time. Situations are going to dictate when we can run that.
Former Carolina 1A foes, North Duplin and Spring Creek played a fairly even second half. The Rebels owned a 22-21 advantage in scoring.
Faison posted career highs in points (25) and rebounds (25) for North Duplin, which earned its eighth consecutive victory in the series. Fulghum delivered nine points, four rebounds and five steals.
Brown finished with seven points, four rebounds and three steals. Higginbotham collected six points, five assists, five steals and three rebounds.
The Rebels owned a 48-33 edge in rebounds, shot 16 of 18 from the free throw line, picked up 22 steals and caused 29 turnovers as a team.
“I thought the girls played hard,” Kornegay said. “I thought, specifically, Abigail played good defense down there on their center [Alexander]. I thought Tateyawna was pretty dominant on the boards, which was huge for us.”
Alexander logged 12 points and eight rebounds for the Gators, who fell to 1-2 this season and 22-37 against Duplin County opposition since 2006.
Daniels chipped in 10 points and four rebounds. Kiarah Pearson tallied five points, while Sarah Hess and Natalie Jackson scored three points apiece. Jackson pulled down 13 rebounds.
North Duplin (2-0) returns home to today for a battle against East Central 2A power East Duplin. Spring Creek entertains Southeastern Athletic 2A member Midway on Monday.
You may reach sports writer Rudy Coggins at prepswriter2@gmail.com or call/text 919-709-9257.
