Ben Fox helps ignite East Wake's win streak, including a historic 50-point game

He's not the leading scorer on the team right now, he's not flashy in warm ups, and he's not one of the most talked about players in the country, but if you're preparing to play East Wake's boys basketball team, you better know the name Ben Fox.

Fox is a 6-foot-3, 150-pound guard for the Warriors. He battled through an injury in November, December, and even some of January, which limited his time on the court and his offensive production. On the season, he's averaging 10 points per game.

"He's a really special kid. I've been hard on him about speeding up, I'm trying to get him to play faster, but he's had me get comfortable with him playing at his pace," East Wake boys basketball coach Craig Wilson said.

Lately, that pace has been working too.

Fox had his first double-digit game of the season on Jan. 10 when he scored 13 points against West Johnston, an 86-56 win for the 17-4 Warriors. Since that night, he's averaging 17.5 points per game, posting double-digits in all but one game.

So what's been working for him?

"I think shooting, just overall creating my own shot, moving off the ball, backdoor cuts, getting out in transition, just utilizing all the opportunities for me," Fox said, explaining how he has turned his offensive production up.

On Jan. 26, in a 92-64 win over Southern Wayne, Fox put together the best offensive performance in school history. Going 20-of-33 from the field, Fox scored 50 points for the Warriors that night.

"I didn't realize he had those numbers," Wilson said.

At one point in the game, Fox hit a shot and Wilson turned to another coach and said, "I think Ben has about 25 points." That's when the statistician said, "No, coach, he's got 46."

"I really had no clue that he got that many points. I knew he'd been scoring, but I had no clue," Wilson said. "I called a timeout to make sure we get this for him."

Fox hit the 50-point mark with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter, and that's when Wilson sat him on the bench.

"It felt good. It felt like God was giving me the strength to do what I know I can do with my abilities," Fox said, noting that he had never had an offensive performance like that before.

Wilson said Fox's ability to score the basketball is a big asset, but so is the fact that you can't rattle him. He is a confident player, but he keeps his emotions in check.

"Even when he's scoring a bunch, he's not gonna show any emotion. He's just gonna keep doing what he does ... the emotions are not going to change," Wilson said. "He's very humble. (His teammates) tease him a lot, trying to get him to say a curse word or something and he says, 'No, I'm not going to say that.' And he won't."

Fox is beginning to receive some interest from college basketball coaches too. He recently picked up an offer from College of Charleston, and Wilson says others are talking to him. He expects more offers will be coming, and that is exciting to Fox.

"It feels good because you worked your whole life to try to get the opportunity to play basketball in college," said Fox.

East Wake's boys basketball team started the season 3-4, but since then the Warriors have won 14 straight games and have a three-game lead in the Quad County 3A Conference at 11-0 with just three games left in the regular season.

It seems the Warriors are poised for a decent seed in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A state playoffs, and if they are going to make a run, Wilson thinks Fox will be a key part.

"He's a very pivotal piece to what we're trying to do. He opens up so many other things for everybody else, so he's a huge part of what we're trying to do," Wilson said.

If you're curious where the 50-point game stands in state history, Fox is tied for 12 other players for 65th in the NCHSAA record book. The state record for most points in a game is 71, set by Richmond's Paul McNeil Jr. just days before Fox's 50-point game.

The Wake County scoring record is 60 points, set by John Byrne of Wake Forest in 1968. Fox's performance ranks No. 6 all-time in Wake County, according to the NCHSAA record book.

Fox's 50-point game was the best performance by a Wake County boys basketball player since 1991 when Donald Williams scored 55 and 52 points in games for Garner, and LeVelle Moton (the current men's basketball coach at N.C. Central) scored 52 points in a game for Enloe.