Thursday, Feb. 02, 2012

Cougars win 12th in a row

The Apex Cougars overcame a slow start to pull away from Tri-Nine 4-A Conference opponent Athens Drive for a 61-49 boys basketball win Friday. The victory was Apex’s 12th in a row.

But coach David Neal is conceding nothing three-quarters of the way into the regular season. The Cougars have to travel to Holly Springs Tuesday night to try to avenge their only conference loss. And then there’s a regular-season finale against second-place Middle Creek. But first things first: Neal is just happy to escape with another victory.

“We could never pull away tonight,” said Neal, who is looking for his second consecutive conference championship. “Athens played us tough. They hit some big shots and got some big rebounds. This is the guys’ third game this week, and they were tired, so I’m happy with the win.”

Three Cougars, led by sophomore guard T. J. Evans’ 18 points, scored in double figures. Senior center Corey Burnette added 12 points and six rebounds, while teammate Michael Gubbins contributed 10 points.

Both teams were cold early, with Apex holding a slim 15-12 first-quarter lead. The Cougars (19-2, 13-1 Tri-Nine) turned it up a notch in the second period behind Evans’ six points to take an eight-point halftime advantage.

In the third, it was Apex vs. Dylan Haupt. The Jaguars senior forward scored 12 of his team’s 14 points from every direction and every angle imaginable. But Athens could only close the gap by one point by the end of the quarter.

The Jaguars (9-9, 8-4) pulled to six behind with 4 minutes, 6 seconds left in the game, despite Haupt getting shut out in the period. But Burnette had two big putbacks on missed shots to put Apex ahead by 10, and the Jaguars never threatened again.

Haupt was the game’s high scorer with 25 points.

With Apex in first place, Neal knows his team is marked.

“I tell the guys all the time that every night teams are going to want to beat us,” he said. “We have to be hungrier.”