Fuquay-Varina girls upset Middle Creek, Mustangs’ boys basketball pulls away
In a very low scoring affair, the Fuquay-Varina’s girls basketball team shocked rival Middle Creek with a 24-17 victory on Friday night. The Fuquay-Varina boys’ basketball team could not duplicate the upset however, as they fell to the Mustangs 59-45.
Mustang boys earn win on Senior Night
Middle Creek (15-7, 11-3) honored their two seniors, Demetrius Bastian and Jack Botkin, before Friday night’s double-digit win.
Botkin knocked down two 3-pointers on the night to finish with six points. Bastian, a Hampden-Sydney (Va.) recruit, scored all 13 of his points in the second half after getting into some early foul trouble.
“(Demetrius) had two fouls in the first three minutes and didn’t play the rest of the first half and that really slowed us down,” Mustang head coach David Kushner. “But I was proud of him coming back, attacking, and having 13 points in the second half.”
Bastian’s absence may have slowed the Mustangs down as a whole, but it did not stop junior forward Daniel Jackson from having one of the best games of his career. Jackson scored Middle Creek’s first seven points of the game and went into the break with 15 of their 28 points. He finished with a game-high 23 points.
“He is going to be a big time football recruit but he’s not a bad basketball player. And I think everybody that was here was able to see that tonight,” Kushner added.
Fuquay-Varina got off to a good start, as they led by one point at the end of the first period. However, the Bengals (7-14, 4-9) lost their momentum in the second quarter and had to play from behind for the rest of the game.
Trey Terry and Moriba Diaby were the only two Bengals that scored in double figures. Terry hit three 3-pointers and used an array of layups on his way to a team-high 19 points. Diaby did all his work down low and at the free throw line, as he finished with 10 points.
Ladji Samora, Taylor Layton, and Christian Pollard combined to score the other 15 points.
Bengals’ girls grab ninth win of the season
Fuquay-Varina’s Ava Bethea was the bright spot in a game that did not see much scoring. The junior forward scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the upset over Middle Creek.
“She’s our engine, honestly,” head coach Gail Siemer said. “She keeps the energy going the entire time and she’s going to do whatever you ask her to do.”
Bethea’s double-double helped the Bengals (9-13, 4-10) capture a huge conference win and avoid losing their fourth straight game.
“We’re not going to roll over and quit. We’re going to fight,” Siemer added.
Middle Creek (10-12, 7-7), who is coming off of a win over Apex Friendship last week, struggled all game to put the ball in the basket. The Mustangs only scored four first-half points.
Kyle McElroy finished with 12 points, while Cassie Beam and Julia Creasy added three and two points, respectively.
This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 1:58 AM with the headline "Fuquay-Varina girls upset Middle Creek, Mustangs’ boys basketball pulls away."