Melissa Marte scores for the Cape Fear Christian girls.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Cape Fear Christian Academy finished its varsity basketball nonconference slate with a sweep over visiting Fayetteville Academy on Monday.
After a slow start in the girls game, a dominant second-quarter powered Cape Fear Christian to a 48-30 win over Fayetteville Academy.
“Starting off the game, once again, we had a slow start,” said Cape Fear Christian girls coach Bobby Lamb. “And then going into the second quarter, we started picking it up. We put a box-and-one (defense) on No. 12 (Talana Banks), one of their best players. And then we started getting some inside shots from Kristen (Bass), Aubree (Bass) and Melissa (Marte). I think, overall, the girls just came together as a team tonight.”
The Bass sisters both scored in double-figures to lead the homestanding Eagles (6-11). Eighth-grader Aubree Bass had 19 points and senior Kristen Bass had 14 points.
Meghan Taylor had five points. Ella John Dupree had four points. Meredith Taylor, Laney Trainer and Melissa Marte had two points apiece.
With leading post player Zykia Matthews out with an injury, Lamb was pleased with the rebounding efforts of sophomore Talisha McNeill.
“She did go to the boards tonight and that helped us out early in the game, as well as late,” Lamb said. “That was big.”
CFCA got every active member of the roster involved. Lamb was particularly pleased with the contributions off the bench of Meghan Taylor, Trainer and Marte.
“Meghan and Laney, they did an awesome job, as well as Melissa, coming off of the bench,” Lamb said. “If we’re going to go far, we’re going to need that bench to be strong.”
Seniors Sydney Neal and Talana Banks had eight points apiece to lead the visiting Eagles (0-10).
With Fayetteville holding an early 6-5 lead, CFCA finished the first quarter with six unanswered to lead 11-6.
CFCA dominated the second quarter, outscoring Fayetteville 17-5, including seven points from Kristen Bass and six points from Aubree Bass, to lead 28-11 at halftime.
The second half was fairly even, with CFCA outscoring Fayetteville 10-9 in the third quarter and both teams scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Cape Fear Christian frequently overcame rough patches to take a 66-52 win over Fayetteville Academy in the boys game.
“We’ve been playing around with some lineups,” said Cape Fear Christian boys coach Kalen Eddings. “We made some subs in the second. We had some lineups out there that weren’t really comfortable playing with each other. And that’s on us as coaches. We’ve got to put those guys in better situations. But we do a pretty good job of kind of rallying when the chips are down. We just wish, as a staff, that we could bring that fight even when we’re up six or seven or eight and push the lead up or try to take advantage of a run. We seem to do a good job of battling back, but it would be nice if we didn’t put ourselves in those situations.”
Cape Fear Christian seniors Greg Moneymaker and Austin Locklear credited Eddings with keeping the team focused when things weren’t going CFCA’s way.
“It’s really just our coach,” Moneymaker said. “He keeps us calm. He just keeps us going.”
“When Coach called a timeout, he just told us to keep our heads straight, don’t give up and just keep working harder,” Locklear said. “So, every time they came up, we fought back.”
Locklear had 22 points, four rebounds and three steals, junior Paul Tako had 15 points, five rebounds and three blocks and Moneymaker had 11 points to lead the homestanding Eagles (11-6).
Jeremyah McWilliams had six points, six rebounds and three blocks. Jamael Carter had five points and four assists. Milos Prodanovic had three points. Alijah Miles and Sila Tako had two points apiece.
Junior Anthony Geddie and sophomore Amari Pearson had 16 points apiece and sophomore Cinque Lemon had 11 points to pace the visiting Eagles (2-10).
Cape Fear Christian senior Jeremyah McWilliams and Fayetteville Academy sophomore Cinque Lemon were teammates at Overhills during the 2017-2018 season.
CFCA struggled early, with Fayetteville jumping out to a 7-1 lead. After McWilliams scored a second-chance basket to end the early scoring drought, Locklear came off of the bench on a hot streak, scoring nine points as part of an 11-2 run to give CFCA the lead.
“I just saw that the team was down and I felt like I could come in and help them on the defensive end and the offensive end,” Locklear said.
“(Locklear) had some off the court stuff going on and we decided to sit him out the first half of the last game and then the first quarter, somewhat, of this game,” Eddings said. “And he responded well by coming in when it was his time and proving that he deserves to be on the floor. I think when he’s locked in and engaged, he’s scary good. And I think he’s finally tapping in to that. So, that’s a blessing.”
With the game tied at 14, a Moneymaker three and a score from Paul Tako gave CFCA a 19-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
CFCA held a 28-20 lead late in the second quarter when a Geddie three sparked a 10-2 Fayetteville run to tie the game at 30 at halftime.
CFCA got a key play early in the third quarter from Moneymaker. While inbounding the ball underneath CFCA’s basket, he noticed something he could exploit in the defense and directed Paul Tako to a spot near him on the floor. Moneymaker sent the inbounds pass to Paul Tako, who passed it back to Moneymaker and set a screen for Moneymaker to free him to make an uncontested three. That score started a 15-3 run to give CFCA a 45-33 lead.
“Coach gives us a lot of freedom and I just saw the way they were playing it,” Moneymaker said. “I knew the shot would be open there, so I just tried to come off and get it in.”
“Greg’s very intellectual on the basketball court,” Eddings said. “He’s just smart. And when you have players that can make those kinds of calls, it helps the coaches out a lot.”
But late in the quarter, after Fayetteville’s Caden Bell drew a foul, an additional technical foul was called on Moneymaker. Bell made one of his free throws, Geddie made both of the technical free throws and Pearson scored on the extra possession to cut the lead to 45-38 at the end of the third.
Pearson scored twice to start the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 45-42. But a basket from Paul Tako started CFCA on a 15-3 run. CFCA led by double digits the rest of the way.
Cape Fear Christian returns to Sandhills Conference play at Fayetteville Christian on Tuesday.
Meredith Taylor (4) blocks a shot for the CFCA girls.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Meghan Taylor scores for the CFCA girls on Monday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Greg Moneymaker makes a 3-pointer for the CFCA boys.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Austin Locklear gets two of his 22 points for CFCA with a dunk.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Alijah Miles of CFCA goes in for a layup against Fayetteville Academy.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
