By Tray Mason
Correspondent

The King’s Fork girls basketball team (13-1,11-0) continued its undefeated streak in the Southeastern District Tuesday evening, defeating rival Nansemond River, 60-43.

A stingy defense allowed KF to keep the lead in a game in which they struggled shooting from the floor and converting easy plays.

“We got off to a slow start, missed a lot of shots around the basket early in the game,” King’s Fork head coach Maurice Fofana said. “Our defense kept us in the game early, and things just started to fall in order as the game went on.”

The Lady Bulldogs held NR to just three field goals in the first quarter, taking a 29-16 lead at halftime.

“Our goal is to keep the numbers down in the first and second halves,” said Fofana. “We held them to 16 in the first, but they made a good run in the second.”

Nansemond River head coach R. Calvin Mason credited the opposing team’s defense. “We didn’t do a good job of executing, and their defense had a lot to do with that,” he said.

Both coaches alluded to a key moment during the game where the Lady Warriors fought back to cut the KF lead to nine, 47-38 in the fourth quarter.

Ashante Humphries recorded a steal but would miss an easy fast-break layup. Brittany Alston was fouled on the next possession, making both free throws.

The Lady Warriors never got back to within single digits in the game.

“Instead of us being down seven, we fouled and never got back in the game,” Mason said.

“They made a good run,” Fofana said. “We knew with the game being a cross-town rivalry, it would be a hard-fought game.”

The win kept the Lady Bulldogs one game ahead of the Grassfield Grizzlies in the Southeastern District and an undefeated record, but Fofana won’t allow the team to get ahead of itself.

“We always say we’re not really in first place, we’re one game or one injury away from being fifth,” he said. “Anything can happen in this final stretch.”

It was the second time this season that Nansemond River has lost two games consecutively, with both sets of losses coming from Grassfield and King’s Fork.

“I think the team took the loss well,” Mason said. “I think we learned a lot, as far as preparing. I don’t think we always prepare the way we need to.”

Kings Fork was set to take on Great Bridge Thursday, coming back home Friday to face third-place Western Branch.