Middle Creek Overcomes Slow Start, Beats Jags

Cary, N.C. — The Middle Creek Mustangs honored all eight seniors on Tuesday night in their final regular season home game of their high school careers, including Tuesday night's hero Nelson Kirksey.

Kirksey had a big third quarter, carrying the Middle Creek offense on his shoulders, and eventually put up a game-best 23-points.

Middle Creek, who averages 68 points per game, had only five in the first quarter, but the night belonged to the Middle Creek seniors, and they weren't about to let the emotion of senior night become negative.

"Our goal was to have the game tied at halftime," Mustangs' Coach David Kushner said after the game. "I think we were down by one."

The Jaguars led Middle Creek at the break 21-20.

Athens Drive did a good job slowing the game down in the first half, and had they been able to keep the Mustangs from running. Middle Creek is capable of putting up a lot of points in a short amount of time, and the Jaguars made the mistake of trying to run with Middle Creek in the third quarter.

Led by Kirksey and Garrius Adams, the Mustangs scored 25-points in the third quarter, but the game was still tied going into the final quarter at 45.

When it's clutch time, count on Middle Creek showing up.

The Mustangs stepped up their defense, and with 7:37 left in the period, Adams knocked down two of his 17-points to give Middle Creek the 47-45 lead. Although by a small margin, Middle Creek remained in control for the remainder of the game.

Middle Creek's defense held Athens to just five-points in almost 6-minutes in the fourth quarter, and just after a thrilling junior varsity overtime game, the Mustangs slipped by the Jags to advance to 21-1 on the season, 56-50.

As time ticked off of the clock in the final seconds, the Creek Crazies began the chant, "Conference Champs... Conference Champs." It's now official. The Mustangs are the 2008 Tri-Eight Conference Champions. They will look to defend last year's tournament championship next week as the No. 1 seed.

The Mustangs will travel to Panther Creek on Friday in the last game of the regular season. The Catamounts are the only team to beat Middle Creek this season.

Next week on WRAL.com, we'll take a look at one of the toughest places to play basketball in the Triangle. The Creek Crazies leave a big mark on the game, and they provide an energy boost for the Middle Creek squad. We'll hear from players, coaches, and fans about the Creek Crazies.