Fuquay-Varina boys basketball beats Holly Springs for first time since 2010
The Fuquay-Varina boys basketball team beat Holly Springs for the first time since this year’s seniors were in middle school. The Bengals’ road win, 57-52, snapped a 10-game losing skid to the Golden Hawks that dated back to the 2010-11 season.
Fuquay’s previous win against Holly Springs was Dec. 11, 2010.
It was a much-needed win for the Bengals, who have lost five of their last six and avenged a 62-50 home loss last month to the Golden Hawks.
“We played like a team for the first time in a while… they stayed discipline and stuck with the game plan, they believed that they could win,” Fuquay-Varina coach Danny Strong said.
Despite facing an 11-point deficit in the first half, and not scoring their first bucket until the 3 minute, 50 second mark in the second quarter, Fuquay-Varina was able to overcome some key runs by Holly Springs.
“We always start the game out slow, we tend to feel out our opponent, but we were able to adjust by staying together,” Strong said.
Mo Diaby was strong for the Bengals as he scored 15 points and picked up nine rebounds. Ladji Samora and Taylor Layton also posted double-digit figures as Layton scored 10 points and recorded five rebounds and Samora scored 13 points.
As for Holly Springs, free throws seemed to doom the Golden Hawks down the stretch as they had many opportunities from the line.
Ryan Bount led the way for the Golden Hawks as he scored 14 points and picked up five rebounds. Jordan Brown also posted double-digit points as he picked up 10 points and posted six rebounds.
Holly Springs led the whole first half until Fuquay-Varina picked up its first lead at the 3 minute, 15 second mark in the third quarter.
The Golden Hawks also had a scoring drought of their own as they didn’t get their first points until the 4 minute, 45 second mark in the fourth quarter when B;ount made a free throw.
Despite leading most of the game, Holly Springs wasn’t able to regain the lead until the 2 minute, 43 second mark in the fourth quarter where Perry Shepherd stripped Fuquay-Varina’s Samora for a wide open layup to take the lead 47-46. From there on, it was all Bengals as they were able to hit key free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
“We played as a team and that hasn’t been something we’ve been doing, it was the teamwork that helped us out tonight,” Diaby said. “My teammates put me in a great position to score, and the encouragement from my staff, coach, and teammates really helped me out.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 11:21 PM with the headline "Fuquay-Varina boys basketball beats Holly Springs for first time since 2010."