Top of Tri-Eight Takes A Blow

Cary, N.C. — Last Thursday, Middle Creek escaped from Athens Drive with a two-point, last-second victory. Tuesday night, neither team survived.

Middle Creek Handed First Loss of Season

The Middle Creek Mustangs hosted the Panther Creek Catamounts who were previously tied for second place in the conference with Athens Drive. The Catamounts found themselves behind by eight points at the half, 34-26, and the Mustangs seemed to have control of the ball game.

Things changed quickly in the second half.

The Catamounts started with the ball in the third quarter, and super-junior Earnest Ross hit a put-back shot and got fouled by Middle Creek's Tom Tankelwicz. Ross converted on the three-point play, and the Middle Creek lead was suddenly cut to five.

Panther Creek turned up the defensive pressure in the second half as well, and after Ross got the old-fashioned three point play, Panther Creek's Marques Oliver laid the ball in with 7-minutes to go in the third quarter. Panther Creek had cut the Mustang lead to 34-31.

The Catamounts got another defensive stop, and Ross hit a trey from the right wing to tie the game at 34, and Middle Creek coach David Kushner called a timeout.

The Catamounts came out of the break on an 8-0 run, and the Panther Creek crowd was into the game.

For much of the third quarter the two teams traded baskets back and forth, but after falling behind by as much as 11-points, the Catamounts led by three after the third quarter, 50-47.

Panther Creek was ready to make a statement, and behind their three-point shooting, they did just that. Once the Catamounts built a decent lead, they began milking the clock and spreading the court, and that led to several easy shots.

Middle Creek only scored six-points in the final quarter, and Panther Creek came out of the "The Creek" with a nine-point, 62-53, victory.

Green Hope Stuns Athens Drive

Just one game after falling ever-so-slightly to the Tri-Eight's top team in Middle Creek, the Athens Drive Jaguars traveled to Green Hope to take on the Falcons.

Green Hope had been struggling at times in recent weeks, but the Falcons came out hot Tuesday.

The Falcons came into the game on a two-game winning streak after losing to Cary on Jan. 8, and they pushed their win-streak to three behind extremely balanced scoring.

Reuben Ford led the Falcons in scoring with 14-points, J.D. Pelham added 11, while Andrew Duke and Steven Edwards dropped 10-points, and Sam Archer posted 9.

Green Hope knocks off Athens Drive big, 56-41.

What Does The Shake-Up Mean?

How much fun is the last half of the season going to be in the Tri-Eight?

Tuesday night marked the half-way point of conference play in the Tri-Eight, and with a round-robin conference schedule, that means each team will play one another again before the post season arrives. In fact, on Friday night Green Hope will host Middle Creek.

Middle Creek and Panther Creek are now technically tied for first place in the conference. Panther Creek wins the head-to-head match-up for now, while Middle Creek wins the overall-record.

Athens Drive falls to third place, just one game ahead of the Green Hope Falcons who are in fourth.

Where a team ranks in the conference is critical because that is how the field for the state tournament is chosen. The top five teams from the Tri-Eight Conference will go the state tournament. If a team finishes the regular season ranked fifth and a lower ranked team wins the conference tournament, the fifth place team will NOT go to the state tournament, instead the conference tournament champion will go.

There is still a lot of basketball to be played. Each team has seven more conference games, and each of those games is critical from this point on.

WRAL will be at Green Hope on Friday night covering the big match-up between Green Hope and Middle Creek, and you will find the most in-depth coverage from the game right here on WRAL.com.