CFCA boys top Lee Christian

A late Lee Christian School rally fell short as Cape Fear Christian Academy’s varsity boys basketball team held on for a 68-62 home win Thursday.

CFCA coach Dwain Ellis turned to his bench with a big lead in the final minutes.

“(Starting point guard) Zeke (Brock) got hurt last game (an ankle injury at Wake Christian Tuesday),” Ellis said. “… Towards the end of the game I wanted to put our guys in so they could get comfortable with being in the game, whether they succeed or fail, just so they can go a little bit, because we’re going to need that with him being out. … It was kind of close there at the end, but we finished it out.”

Senior DeShawn Woods had a game-high 29 points to lead the Eagles (3-1).

David Okropiridze had nine points. Reid Miller had eight points. Jakson Cullen had seven points. Brandon Surles had six points. Trevor McLamb had five points. Jackson Bolton had two points. Barrett Raynor and Elijah Ellis had one point apiece.

“B.J. (Surles), our backup point guard, is in seventh grade,” coach Ellis said. “He’s done a tremendous job this year in helping us out playing the point guard position. He’s a great talent and I can’t wait to see him in the years to come. DeShawn stepped up. I think besides Capodanno, he’s scored around 30 points a game. He stepped it up tonight and Tuesday night, as well. And Reid and Trevor, our post guys, they come in and get some rebounds. Trevor comes in off the bench and gets five or six a game, so that helps out, too.”

Noe Munn had 20 points, Jacob Laney had 19 points and Danny Brown had 14 points to lead the Falcons (0-1).

With the Eagles holding a 35-20 halftime lead, the Falcons started the third quarter with six unanswered points. But the Eagles responded with a 25-8 run to take their largest lead of the game, at 60-34 early in the fourth quarter.

The Falcons went on a 28-8 run late in the fourth quarter against CFCA reserves, but time ran out on the rally.

Cape Fear Christian travels to Crossroads Christian (1-1) on Nov. 30.

“We just need to work on our defense,” coach Ellis said. “Work on our defense and boxing out. We’ve got to be able to rebound, because we’re small. Every team that we play is going to be bigger than us. If we can keep teams off of the boards and keep putting 60, 70 shots a game, I think we can be successful.”