JANUARY 24,2018
BERTIE LEDGER-ADVANCE
Sports
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David Friedman
Patriots
should
retire
I think the time has
come for the Patriots
to retire.
People are always
discussing the virtues
of leaving the game
while you are still on
top and, whether they
win or lose against
Philly in the Super
Bowl, the New Eng
land Patriots are far
and away the best or
ganization in football.
Regular readers of
this column know 1
am a Miami Dolphins
fan, so the above
words are hard to say.
But that doesn’t make
them any less true.
You might be think
ing to yourself, “but
Dave, they barely got
past the Jaguars,” and
you’d be right. They
almost lost but they
didn’t.
Seems to me that
no matter how much
they are losing by.
New England always
comes out on top
when it matters.
The reason it seems
this way? The last
four times the Patri
ots have been down
by double digits in the
playoffs, they have
come back to win.
That includes their
last two Super Bowls.
In a league where
teams that make the
postseason are sta
tistically as likely to
miss the playoffs the
following year as they
are to make it. New
England has earned a
playoff berth in 14 of
the last 15 seasons.
The Patriots don’t
just show up in the
playoffs, they win.
They have been to the
last seven AFC cham
pionship games and,
with the exclusion of
his rookie year and the
year he was injured in
the first game of the
season, Tom Brady
has been to the Super
Bowl in half of his 16
years as a starter.
Bill Belichick will
coach in his 11th Su
per Bowl, the most
amongst any coach in
NFL history.
Tom Brady will play
in his eighth Super
Bowl, more than any
player in NFL history.
Needless to say, they
are the winningest
head coach and quar
terback tandem in NFL
postseason history.
See FOURTH, 9
The fabric of Bertie County since 1832
Falcons’ skid continues
JIM GREEN
Bertie Ledger-Advance
WILLIAMSTON - One
streak ended, while an
other continued Satur
day night.
Jadakis Bonds
eclipsed 1,000 points for
his career and helped
facilitate a strong defen
sive start by the River
side High School varsity
boys basketball team,
who eased past Bertie
59-37 in a non-confer
ence game.
A three-game losing
skid ended for Riverside
(9-7 overall), while Ber
tie emerged 5-9 overall
with its third straight
defeat.
Bonds came into Sat
urday’s game with 997
points - needing only
three to reach 1,000.
The Knights scored
the first six points - four
by Ashaaun Belcher
(one basket on a pass
from Bonds) and two
free throws by Ben
Beach.
It took the Falcons
three minutes to pro
duce a bucket, but Riv
erside kept pushing the
tempo and converting
transition baskets (De-
onte Thomas, Belcher
and Beach) to make it
17-6.
Bonds made his first
basket at 2:22 to push
Riverside’s lead to 19-6.
After Alden Cottle’s
three-pointer cut the
deficit to 19-9, the
Knights ended the first
quarter with baskets
from Zyjuan Exum,
Belcher (off a Bonds
assist) and then Exum
again to make it 25-9.
Bonds needed just 32
seconds in the second
stanza to make River
side history.
He stole a pass and
went uncovered, finish
ing with an emphatic
t
liM.
S'
JIM GREEN / Bertie Ledger-Advance
Bertie’s Joshua Burden (No. 10) shoots between Riverside’s ben Beach and Deonte Thomas in Saturday’s loss to the Knights.
two-handed slam dunk
that gave him 1,001
points for his career.
That basket fueled an
other Knights outburst
- this time, 13 points in
a row (Bonds, Nakwon
Burns, Exum, Belcher,
Beach and Belcher
again) - to put Riverside
ahead 38-9.
Bertie collected 10
of the quarter’s last 16
points, which included
a basket from Marquis
Overton, a triple from
Cottle and a basket
from Jaquan Baylor, to
pull within 25 (44-19) at
the break.
While Bertie played
better offensively in the
second half - outscor-
ing Riverside 19-15 - the
Falcons never could
get the deficit under 20
points.
Baylor (two baskets).
Tray Riddick (three-
pointer) and Burden
(basket) produced Ber
tie’s nine points in the
third quarter.
Riverside earned its
biggest lead of the sec
ond half (27 points)
when Bonds scored,
Thomas converted off
a pass from Exum and
Bonds added two free
throws to make it 55-28.
Riddick (five points)
and Baylor (two) pulled
Bertie within 20 (55-35)
with 3:06 remaining, but
that’s as close as the
See FALCONS, 9
Tale of
2 halves
Bertie girls lose big lead,
suffer five-point defeat
^ ii
JIM GREEN
Enterprise & Weekly Herald
1’
r-v.::
JIM GREEN / Bertie Ledger-Advance
Lady Falcon guard Dawaunti Combs (No. 10) drives against Riverside defenders Saturday.
WILLIAMSTON - It was
a tale of two halves on
Saturday.
Bertie High School’s
girls basketball team
owned the first half
against Riverside and
took a commanding
20-point advantage (34-
14) just 70 seconds into
the third quarter.
Riverside’s change in
defensive strategy re
sulted in Bertie going
cold for a long stretch.
It also helped that the
Knights started making
shots, many of them in
transition.
The result was a 56-
51 victory by Riverside
which improved the
home team to 12-3 over
all, while Bertie dropped
to 8-6 overall.
“If we hadn’t given up
the basket and allowed
so many easy shots, we
would have won the
game,” said Bertie head
coach Kelvin Hayes.
Playing without one of
its offensive leaders in
Zaria Brown-Williams,
Riverside struggled to
make shots in the first
half despite holding its
on against the Falcons
on the boards.
Bertie, on the other
hand, didn’t have much
trouble converting.
Akyia King started
See BERTIE, 9
Bertie Ledger-Advance congratulates
this week’s Athiete of the Week.
Bertie
Ledger-Advance
Bertie Ledger-Advance
109 S. King St., RO. Box 69
Windsor, NC 27983
Athlete
of the
week
Bertie High School
Basketball
Dawaunti Combs