LEBEAU -- North Central faced a grim reality at halftime Tuesday against the Elton Indians.When the Hurricanes went to the locker room, they were down 36.30.North Central came back though and outscored Elton 48-29 in the second half to take the 78-65 victory. The 'Canes improve their perfect record to 9-0 in District 5-lA play.

They travel to Oberlin Friday for another district encounter. Elton head coach Larry Johnson attributed the loss to three things. "We lost our heads, we started making stupid mistakes like turnovers, and the officials took the game over in the fourth quarter," said Johnson. "I thought they decided the outcome of the game. I don't think in the end we had anything to do with it. "I'm not putting it all on them. We didn't play well enough to win, but sometimes you play bad because of what is happening to you."

The Hurricanes were without leading scorer Derrick Tezeno, who is sidelined with an injury. But Butch Fontenot, North Central head coach, saw good play in spite of his absence. "Derrick is a good part of the club, but he is not necessary for us to win," said Fontenot. "The guys stepped up their play tonight to make up for his injury. They talked about that after the game.

Kenneth Morrison carried the team on his shoulders in the first quarter by scoring the first 15 of 21 points for the Hurricanes. Fontenot saw a different Morrison from last game. "He hit the big threes when we needed them. His performance tonight is a big difference from Friday night."

In the first quarter, Elton shocked North Central by stealing the ball and scoring on a layup. The Indians came back and scored another basket to go ahead 4-0. Kenneth Morrison scored 15-straight and hit three consecutive threes to put the 'Canes ahead 15- 14 late in the first quarter. At the end of the first, North Central had extended that lead to 21-16. Elton came back in the second quarter with two runs of six points each to take the advantage 30- 26 with 3:42 left in the half. The Indians added two points to their lead and closed the half 36-30. The Hurricanes came back fired up after halftime.

Robert Thierry fired a three-pointer to open scoring in the half. That three was the beginning of a seven- point drive that took NCHS ahead 37- 39. Later in the quarter, Thierry hit two back-to-back treys contributing to an eight-point run that regained the lead 45-43. With 56 seconds left, Elton came back to tie. Fred Tanner put in two points at the buzzer when he grabbed the ball from a rebound and put it through the hoop with one hand. In the fourth quarter, NCHS put Elton to rest. The 'Canes outscored the Indians 16-2 in the first 3:00 of the fourth quarter and went on to take the win.

The North Central Lady Hurricanes fought off a late Elton attack to win 58-49. The Lady Hurricanes took the lead in the first quarter and never gave it away.The Lady Hurricanes led 34-33 at half, and expanded that lead until the end.

Tawanda Washington led the Lady Hurricanes in the scoring category. Washington had eight two's and six-of- 16 from the line. Nicole Johnson also scored in double digits for North Central with 12.