Lejeune’s Scarlett McQueen, left, attempts to knock the ball away from North Duplin guard Abby Rose on Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Maggie Brown (20) and Tateyawna Faison (12) block a shot by Lejeune guard Maddison McQueen during first-half play Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin senior point guard Abby Higginbothaom easily drives past Lejeune defender Scarlett McQueen past midcourt. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin’s Abby Rose (10) and Abigeal Norris Brown (35) knock the ball away from Lejeune guard Maddison McQueen during first-quarter play Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
North Duplin senior center Tateyawna Faison tallies two of her game-high 18 points against Lejeune on Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
CALYPSO — Accustomed to grabbing the upper hand against opponents on its home court, North Duplin saw the opposite occur Tuesday evening.
Lejeune grabbed a 4-1 lead.
The Rebels didn’t worry too much, especially when you have a dominant center like Tateyawna Faison roaming the paint.
The senior tallied 13 first-quarter points and 18 overall during the Rebels’ 52-14 shellacking of the Devilpups inside Kaleel Gymnasium.
“I thought we came out with good effort, the press was effective early on,” ND head coach Jon Kornegay said. “Tateyawna controlled the boards and that really set the tone for us. Her rebounding and our press got us moving in the right direction.”
Faison’s work underneath spearheaded 29-0 run.
Lejeune guard Maddison McQueen stopped the 13 1/2-minute surge with an open-court layup just before the second quarter concluded.
North Duplin led 35-6 at the break.
“We had worked on a couple of things this week that were a little new and tried to implement some of those throughout the game … couple of defensive and offensive sets,” Kornegay said. “I thought we played pretty good tonight, effort was there [and] we’ve still got some things to work on.
“We’ll get there.”
Nine Rebels scratched in the scorebook.
Lilly Fulghum and Maggie Brown notched eight points apiece, while point guard Addy Higginbotham and Camden Cox each tallied four points.
North Duplin (3-1 overall) extended its win streak to 10 over the Devilpups, who lead the series 13-12 since 2007.
“Some of the players on the bench have worked hard in practice, so we gave them the opportunity to play,” Kornegay said. “I thought they came out and competed well. It’s a long week for us and last week as well.”
The Rebels travel to East Central 2A powerhouse East Duplin on Thursday and return home Friday to face Spring Creek. Both games tip off at 6 p.m.
You may reach sports writer Rudy Coggins at prepswriter2@gmail.com or call/text 919-709-9257.
