Lakewood, North Duplin split championship series

In Saturday afternoon’s third and final championship bout, North Duplin and Lakewood faced off once more for the boys’ title. An early lead for the Rebels was quickly erased, giving Lakewood their 21st straight win and the conference regular season and tournament titles.

Branson Martin and Xavier Hall went up for the game’s opening tip, with Hall winning it for the Leopards, yet unable to get anything of the early possession. Lucas Dail made a layup through the Leopard defense for the game’s first points.

Dashaun Carr added two for Lakewood via free throws less than a minute in, tying the game at two. Juan Parker Jr. hit a 3 to give Lakewood its first lead of the night.

An early traveling call on Luke Kelly elicited boos from the North Duplin stands, as the fans were looking for a foul to be called on Lakewood’s Cameron Williams. At the other end, Kelly was called for an off-ball foul on Hall as the two jostled for position under the hoop. Less than two minutes into the game, the Rebels grabbed three fouls. Kelly would once more be the center of a big play as his layup attempt was swatted by Hall. He got retribution soon after, though, on a layup to make it a 5-4 ball game in favor of the Leopards.

Things got very chippy early between the neighboring county squads, with both players and coaches taking part in the early game fireworks. Noah Price was called for a technical foul, giving Williams free throws at the other end. He sank one to tie it at six. Two free throws later, Williams gave Lakewood the lead, but not for long as Armwood sank a three to make it 9-8 in favor of North Duplin.

A 2-2-1 zone was deployed by Lakewood defensively, with Hall being the lone man back to defend the hoop. A Price layup on a fast break gave them the 11-8 advantage. Armwood would add another on a free throw.

The teams traded steals, with the last coming from Lakewood’s Dontaveous Smith to get the transition layup. Noah Bennett powered through for a layup in response, with the score moving to 16-10 in favor of North Duplin. Armwood got another transition two — nearly a dunk — over Smith, further extending the Rebel lead to 18-10 with under a minute to play in the opening period. The score would remain as the teams moved into the second.

Smith added three points to start the second quarter for Lakewood on an and-1, cutting the lead to five. Hall matched the efforts and the Leopards were on a 6-0 streak to start the second.

A stifling defense faced the Rebels this go-round, with Lakewood trapping the ball handlers and forcing bad decisions and turnovers. North Duplin moved to a 2-3 zone defensively to try and stop the scoring in the paint.

Smith was hit with a technical of his own after a fast break layup, giving Armwood a pair of free throws — which he made for the Rebels’ first points of the quarter, making it 20-18 in their favor. Williams splashed a corner 3 to gain the advantage for Lakewood at 21-20, but Martin returned fire on a 3 of his own nearly immediately.

Bennett would further extend it on an elbow jumper. North Duplin’s lead sat at 27-25 before Hall hit a one-footed fadeaway to tie it up, and his ensuing foul shot regained Lakewood’s advantage. He would go coast-to-coast and get a block of Martin’s layup, but Armwood hit another 3. Hall tied things up at 30, Smith gave Lakewood the one-point advantage, and then a Hall layup extended it to three. Armwood added a layup to cut it to one before Dashaun Carr fed Williams on the low block for a shot for the big man to regain the three-point lead.

Armwood was most of the offense for the Rebels deep into the first half, taking the game over and tying it up once more at 35-all. A pair of Parker free throws gave the Leopards the two-point advantage, and an and-1 by Dashaun Carr with .1 seconds showing on the clock took the 40-35 lead for Lakewood going into halftime.

Parker opened scoring for both teams in the second half on a layup attempt, but couldn’t make it through the Rebel contact, and he made just one of his foul shots. Armwood grabbed two points for North Duplin on foul shots of his own.

Parker hit another 3 just under two minutes into the third to make it 44-37, but was called for a technical for his celebration, which gave Armwood another set of free throws, both of which he sank.

Devin Jones made it a 10-point lead on a layup with just over four minutes to play in the third, making it 49-39. North Duplin would answer and get two of their own. Armwood would take a fast break for a finger roll layup to cut it to six before Jaziah Brunson did the same for Lakewood.

The teams traded buckets back and forth down the backstretch of the third quarter, with neither squad being able to pull away from the other. With 52.6 seconds left in the period, Lakewood held the 54-47 advantage. Although the Rebels played a tough defensive in the final minute of the quarter, getting turnovers and baskets to cut it to a 54-51 lead, Parker and Williams connected on a corner 3 for Williams to make it 57-51 heading into the fourth.

After trading empty possessions, Williams added a point for Lakewood on a free throw to start the fourth. Armwood fouled out on a technical shortly after.

Price added a layup to move the score closer, but an onslaught from the Leopards via a Brunson triple and a Hall put-back moved it to a 66-53 advantage for Lakewood with over five minutes to play. Williams received a technical foul for his actions following one of his baskets.

Hall sent home his first slam of the night on a wide-open attempt to make it 70-54, but the referees served up another technical on a platter, this time on Lakewood’s bench for a fan celebrating the slam.

A fast break from Dail resulted in a big foul from Smith, with the referees calling a flagrant in the process and giving Dail the uncontested free throws and possession for the Rebels following. He made neither, and the possession came up empty.

The reserves came in for Lakewood en masse with under three minutes of action left and a 72-56 lead showing for the Leopards.

Duquan Stevens made a layup through contact from Lakewood’s Ayden Melvin with under two minutes to go, and the two doubled up on the same play shortly after. This made it a 76-62 lead for Lakewood as they were in full control, heading towards the Carolina 1A regular season and conference tournament championships.

Lakewood took the 76-64 win as the final buzzer sounded.