Cape Fear takes two from Lee Christian
Dec. 8—Lee Christian's basketball season started last month in a tournament at Cape Fear Christian Academy. On Tuesday night, the Eagles came to town for their first games back in the Mid-Carolina Conference after spending a few years in another league.
Lee got off to a shaky start in the opening minutes of both the men's and women's games, and Cape Fear scored wins in the conference opener for both teams. The Lady Falcons dropped the first game of the evening 47-25, and then the men's game ended in a 69-50 victory for the visitors as well.
The Lee men have one more game this week, hosting North Raleigh Christian on Friday at 6:30. Both teams will return to conference play on Tuesday of next week at Cresset.
CFCA 47, Lee Christian 25
The young Lady Falcons had actually played Cape Fear Christian on Nov. 10 in Eagles' season-opening tournament, dropping that game 58-16. Despite foul trouble for leading scorer Elayna McFarland that caused her to be missing from the lineup for long stretches, Lee performed better in the rematch.
Had the Lady Falcons been able to get some shots to fall in the first half, they might have stayed in the game for longer than they did. Lee's defense was solid and limited CFCA (3-3) to just 20 points in the first half. Unfortunately, the Lady Falcons managed just six of their own, all of them by freshman Madison Mashburn.
When the second half got under way, Cape Fear started out on an 11-1 run and any hope for a Lee rally went by the boards. Lee performed better on offense in the final period, when McFarland was on the floor for all but the final seconds of the game and Mashburn, playing one of the strongest games of her career, scored eight points, but it was too little, too late.
Mashburn led everyone with 16 points. McFarland added five, with Jamiya Graham and Alayna Moore each scoring two. Ella John Dupree led Cape Fear Christian with 14, while Perri Caroline Ellis had 11.
CFCA 69, Lee Christian 50
Lee was coming off an impressive 73-62 road win last Thursday over the Chatham Thunder, in which Lee's Sawyer Elkins pumped in 32 points and Danny Rumbold added 22. However, Cape Fear was expected to be a stiffer test for the Falcons, and it was.
Lee had actually won three out of five games since starting 0-3, and has since regained the services of one of its top players in 6'5" senior Jacob Laney, who suffered season-ending injuries in each of the past two seasons. Laney had 17 points on Tuesday, but Elkins, who matched his 17 points, was the only other Falcon who kept pace.
The game was close for a few minutes, and then Cape Fear (4-3) ran out to a 17-6 lead by late in the opening period. The remainder of the first half was a tightly contested battle in which Lee performed well, but could not get closer than seven points. Rumbold drove the ball to the basket for an old-fashioned three-point play at the 3:30 mark of the second quarter to make it 25-18, and after a Cape Fear score, Laney answered by taking it to the basket himself. However, the Eagles' sharpshooter Zeke Brock, who led everyone with 27 points, hit a three to blunt Lee's momentum. After a few more exchanges, Laney swished a 19-footer and it looked like it would be an eight point game at the break.
Unfortunately, Brock, who is on several college prospect lists because of his shooting prowess, showed everyone why. Right before the halftime buzzer, he threw up a shot from beyond halfcourt that hit nothing but net, and left the visitors up 35-24 at the half.
The Falcons continued to scrap as the third quarter got under way, but were undone by poor shooting and not taking care of the ball. Nevertheless, it an eight-point game (39-31) when Brock and Trevor McLamb sank back-to-back threes to put Cape Fear Christian up by 14. This was just the start of what became a 15-0 run by the Eagles before Elkins hit a three to stop the bleeding.
The Falcons, who had trailed by as many as 23, cut the gap to 15 midway through the fourth quarter thanks to solid play from Rumbold, Elkins and a 3-pointer by Maddoc Glines, but couldn't get any closer.
Rumbold had nine points, but no one outside of he, Elkins and Laney had more than three for the Falcons. Caden Scarborough had 12 for CFCA, 10 of them in the opening period, and Brandon Surles had 14.
