Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010

Cougars, Lady Falcons win Tri-Nine tourney

Top seeds continue conference dominance

The Apex boys and Green Hope girls basketball teams combined to go 31-1 in Tri-Nine Conference play this year. So it's no surprise that both teams completed their respective sweeps of the conference tournament and regular-season titles Friday.

Green Hope won its first-ever conference tournament title with a 52-44 win over No. 2 seed Athens Drive, and Apex downed second-seeded Middle Creek 58-52. Both games were played at Panther Creek High School.

A historic season continued for Green Hope's girls. The Falcons (26-0) entered the NCHSAA 4-A state playoffs on Monday still undefeated.

"It's big for our school, it's big for our program. ... Everybody's starting to turn their heads a little bit," coach Michael Robinson said.

"We're doing what it takes to win ballgames."

Robinson's team led just 23-21 at the half over the Jaguars (22-4). But a third-quarter run, highlighted by two Caitlyn Ranson 3-pointers, gave the Falcons a seven-point advantage heading into the fourth.

Athens Drive struggled to get the ball to its star center Keisha Gatling in the second half.

Gatling, a 6-foot-4 senior, hit all six of her first-half field goals and finished the game 11-of-12 for 24 points.

However, passes to her were taken away at critical times. Left to shoot outside, the Jags were 5-of-25 from 3-point range.

"I thought it was a great defensive game," Athens Drive coach Chris Danehower said.

Although Green Hope's Kristen Gaffney led her team in scoring, she was held to a season-low 13 points. The Tri-Nine Player of the Year didn't need to be her usual dominant self to help secure a win.

"I couldn't have done any of this without my team. We played really well all through this season. We really came together as a team this year," Gaffney said.

Of the Jags' four losses this year, three have been to the Falcons.

Green Hope's starting five played every minute of the game. It was an unusual move, but one that paid off for Robinson, the two-time conference coach of the year.

The Apex boys won their third conference tournament in six years by holding off Middle Creek, which trailed by double digits for most of the game but cut the lead to four with 7.5 seconds left.

The Cougars improved to 22-4 on the year with just one of those losses - a buzzer-beating defeat to Panther Creek on the same floor - coming in Tri-Nine play.

When Apex lost forwards Adam Dalbo and Weston Murphy to fouls in the fourth quarter, Middle Creek inched closer but never overtook the Cougars.

For the first two quarters, it was another dominating performance for the league's top defensive team, as Middle Creek didn't hit double digits until 1:43 left in the second quarter. Apex led 13-4 after the first quarter.

"The first half was really going our way, but [Middle Creek] made some plays at the end of the half to cut it to five," Apex coach David Neal said.

"I felt like we had played better than a five-point lead."

Middle Creek had cut the lead to six and had momentum when Apex senior guard Connor Belicic hit a long 3-pointer with 3:14 to go. Neal said it was the game's biggest shot.

"We needed him to step up and make a couple plays offensively, and he's done it all year," Neal said. "He's hit some humongous 3s, it seems like every game."

Belicic was named the Tri-Nine Player of the Year. He connected on three 3-pointers in the championship game and finished with 19 points.

"It's a great honor. It's something I've dreamed of since I was a little boy, and I worked so hard. Honestly, I'm just completely honored to get this," Belicic said.

The Cougars placed two additional players, seniors Mike Fogg and Murphy, on the Tri-Nine's first team.

Fogg carried the bulk of the load for Apex with a game-high 23 points.

"He's what makes us athletic," Neal said of Fogg. "He's just had a tremendous year."

Apex hosted Durham Hillside in the first round of the state playoffs on Monday, with the winner advancing to face the winner from Enloe versus Athens Drive.