North Duplin topples Lakewood

First half Leopards were rolling with ease. A bump in performance had Lakewood breathed new life into the struggling team. At 12-6, the home team was pummeling the Lady Rebels, who would call a timeout to try and salvage the game.

After the break, North Duplin put themselves in gear and extended plays. Lakewood managed to maintain their lead but it slipped away quickly. The grinding Rebels closed the gap to one in their comeback, 21-20.

A welcome change was the organization of the Leopards. Call outs kept their court in order and they dug in. Two big blocks from Kaycie White set the tone as the Leopards weren’t going to just roll over. Lakewood took the first set, 25-21.

In the next round, Kiyah Braxton made two plays on the court a dive to keep play going and a well spotted push that the Rebels couldn’t defend. Timeout was called by the Rebels at 7-3.

Things would shift Duplin’s way however with some strong pushback from the visitors. The Leopards would only score two during the Rebels run, Lakewood would call a time with the score 13-9.

Lakewood tied it up 13 all.

A long battle ensued for the leading point, with Lakewood pulling out all the stops in their fight against the Rebels, with Brennye Rouse sending the missile to their side with authority for the lead. It wouldn’t last long, however, as the Rebels pulled ahead by four. The set carried on with a back and forth fight but the Rebels held off the Leopards to tie the series up, 25-23. Series at 1 all.

Lakewood fell behind after leading 4-2, in the early goings. The Lady Rebels kicked it into overdrive but the home team didn’t make it easy. Two big plays by Karizma Freeman and Kenly Cannady kept them in it. The Duplin train was rolling and nothing seemed to be slowing them down. The set would end in a whimper after a hard fought battle early, 25-16. Duplin took the lead of the series, 2-1.

The energy was different in the fourth. The Lakewood and Duplin crowd grew loud with cheers. The home team started out well. They forged ahead 4-1 off some sound hits in the front, Braylin Blackwell spoon fed her hitters to help the Leopards press ahead. The Lady Rebels again, pushed Lakewood down and climbed over them. The lead changed hands and the Leopards were down by three, 7-4. They’d rally to eight all before Duplin would retake the lead and add onto it, 12-8.

It grew worse from there with Rebels continuing their ascent to victory while Lakewood floundered about on the court trying to answer their opposition.

The final was 25-12.