The Falcons Nest - November 18th

Lulu Brase, Assistant Athletic Director
As the Thanksgiving holiday break approaches, the Falcons continued to work this week both on the courts and in the pool.
Varsity Girls Basketball
  • November 11th vs Cary Academy – 50-34 (W)
  • November 12th vs Durham Academy – 58-35 (W)
Last weekend, the Falcons traveled to Durham Academy for their inaugural Tip Off Classic. As the only 2A school in the field, the Falcons had a loaded weekend competing against 4A foes Cary Academy and Durham Academy.

Friday afternoon, the Falcons took on Cary Academy in their opening game of the week. A slow start saw the Falcons trailing 5-9 after multiple turnovers to start the game. The Falcons did not take long to re-group as they used their defense to create offense going on 9-0 to end the quarter and take the 22-14 half time lead. The second half saw much of the same, as the Falcons used swarming defense to tally 17 total steals on the afternoon leading to 26 points of turnovers. In the end, the Falcons earned a strong 50-34 victory to move to 2-0 on the season. The Falcons were led in scoring by Ashanti Fox (22 points, 9 steals, 5 rebounds) who was also named the MVP of the game. Joining the Falcon scoring were, Kennedy Moore (9 points, 8 rebounds), Tamiya Judd (4 points, 4 steals), Brooklyn Adams (4 points), Kennedi Hamner (4 points, 6 rebounds), Ava Vonderkall (3 points), Reily Johnson (2 points, 6 rebounds) and Clara Tanner (2 points).

Saturday, the Falcons took on their next test against a seasoned Durham Academy. Another slow start saw the Falcons build themselves a deficit, however, as they did Friday afternoon, the Falcons turned up the defensive pressure and used an 8-0 to end the half to take a 27-17 lead into the half. In the third, the Falcons came out and made a statement on the defensive end holding Durham Academy to just 2 points. On the afternoon, the Falcons totaled 10 steals and 13 deflections turning into 17 points off turnovers and 14 points in transition. In the end, the Falcons used their depth to provide added minutes to their entire bench and stretched the lead to a final of 58-35 to move to 3-0. Leading the Falcons yet again was sophomore Ashanti Fox with 27 points. Joining Fox in double figures was 8th grader Kennedy Moore with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Rounding out the Falcon scoring was Kennedi Hamner (6 points), Reily Johnson (5 points, 6 rebounds), Clara Tanner (3 points, 5 rebounds), Tamiya Judd (3 points, 4 rebounds), and Riley Lefler (2 points).
The Falcons moved to 3-0 on the season and look ahead at their match-up with 4A Ravenscroft this evening. Over the holidays the Falcons will travel to Wesleyan Christian to participate in the Headliners Challenge Basketball Tournament November 25-26th.
 
Varsity Boys Basketball
  • November 15th vs Village Christian Academy – 66-60 (W)
The Falcons hosted Village Christian Academy on Tuesday night in what quickly became an OT thriller in the Hannah Center. After a slow start to the game, the Falcon’s offense and defense picked up in the second quarter scoring 18 points and holding Village to just 8 total points. Reflecting on the game, Coach Fitzgerald shared, “we are seeing steady growth in our players, and it showed in Tuesday's game.”

The Falcons overtime win moved them to 1-3 on the season. The Falcons were led in scoring by Will Slagle (14pts and 5 rebs). The Falcon also had contributions from Malachy White ( 10pts and 10rebs), Phillip Hancock (11pts, 6rebs, and 3stl), D'Marion Tomlinson (11pts, 7rebs, and 3ast), Nick Joyce (7pts and 4rebs), Holt Neville (6pts),Dakota Bender (3pts and 4rebs), Brennan Hodges (2pts and 4stl), and Kanye McKeithen (2pts).

The Falcons are on the road Friday at Ravenscroft before they take a break for the Thanksgiving holiday.
 
JV Boys Basketball
  • November 15th vs Freedom Christian Academy – 39-35 (W)
The Falcons hosted Freedom Christian Academy on Tuesday Afternoon. This game was full of excitement from tip-off. The Falcons gained control of this game early in the first quarter penetrating Freedom Christian Academy’s defense and finishing at the rim to end the first quarter with an 8 to 5 lead. In the second quarter, the Falcons continued to apply pressure to Freedom with two huge three pointers from Gunnar Adams and Aaron Pavlovich. Falcons went into halftime with a 6-point lead. Opening the second half, Falcons had foul trouble with Andrew Pavlovich and Harrison Franklin both receiving their four fouls respectively. In a moment of adversity, Jack Manning and Ford Grimshaw stepped up and provided crucial minutes in the second half with several key defensive stops. Going into the fourth, the Falcons maintained a 6-point lead with a score of 25-19. Fourth quarter did not disappoint as Freedom went on a run late in the fourth quarter to overcome an 8-point deficit to tie the game at 35-35 with 20 seconds left. The Falcons responded with a huge play inbounds play to Andrew Pavlovich for the go-ahead basket with 4 seconds left to take a 37-35 lead. Harrison Franklin came up huge steal on Freedom’s in bounds to seal a 39-35 victory.

The Falcons moved to 1-1 with the victory. Aaron Pavlovich led all Falcons with 14 points. Joining the Falcon scoring were Gunnar Adams (10 Points), Andrew Pavlovich (8 points), Harrison Franklin (4 points), and Max Pashley (3 Points).

The Falcons will close out week on the road Friday, November 18th vs. Ravenscroft @ 4:00pm. Falcons will Practice over the Thanksgiving break for a return to the court on Tuesday, November 29th on the road at Berean Baptist @ 4:00pm.
 
MS Boys Basketball A Team
The Middle School Boys A team battled until the very end after a tough loss against Cape Fear Christian Academy.  Ten of the 13 Falcons that traveled put points on the scoreboard but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to bring home a victory.  Top scorers for the night were Will Haarlow (9), Alex Muller (6), and Jacob Lindsey (5).  Wells Kuester continued to work and improve his game with impactful key plays on both sides of the court until the very end.  Up and coming youngsters Jackson Mullis and Grant Sowell immediately changed the dynamic of the game as soon as they stepped onto the court.  After the break, the team will continue with conference play against St. Patrick’s and Liberty Christian.   
 
MS Boys Basketball B Team
The MS Boys’ Basketball team has given themselves the team name of “The Killa B’s” and have taken that killer bee mentality onto the court as they fought to the very end of their first game of the season with a win against Mina Charter School of Sanford.  The all-game, back and forth battle came down to the last minute with both Christian Baker and Keens Cameron hitting clutch free throws to secure the win.  Jaxon Graves and Owen West a.k.a ‘The Bigs’ absolutely dominated the paint and had numerous rebounds and a total of five points between them.  Commanding the floor on offense and being an absolute nuisance on defense, point man Christian Baker had numerous steels and assists and a total of six points for the night.  Standout 7th Grader, Keens Cameron, earned the top scoring spot with nine points as well as running through, over, and around the visiting team throughout the entire 24-minute battle. This team showed something special on Wednesday night and it was exciting to observe.  The next contest for the Killa B’s is set for 5 December against St. Patrick’s.       
 
MS Girls Basketball A Team
O’Neal vs Cape Fear – 38-10 (W) 
The Middle School Girls A team kicked off their conference season with a strong showing at Cape Fear Christian.  Emeli Michael got the Falcons started with 6 points in the first quarter, leading the Falcons to an early 8-2 advantage.  The second quarter saw a more balanced attack and slower pace as Gianna Maheu, Chesley Lucas, and Lillie Mcintosh each scored a basket as the Falcons took a 14-5 lead into halftime.  In the second half, the Falcons found more success on the offensive end as Gianna Maheu exploded for 12 second half points and Emeli Michael chipped in 8 points on three field goals and a pair of free throws as the Falcons pulled away for a 38-10 victory.  A total of six Falcons got into the scoring column as Gianna Maheu led the way with 16 points while Emeli Michael (14 points), Chesley Lucas (8 points), Sofie Itegie (2 points), Lillie Mcintosh (2 points), and Lindsey Havenstein (2 points) also scored. 

MS Girls Basketball B Team
The O'Neal School vs Mina Charter School 12 – 11 (W)
The Middle School Girls B Team had the honor of playing the middle school program’s first home basketball game of the season as they hosted Mina Charter School out of Sanford.  It was tough sledding for the Falcons early on as they saw all of their first half offensive trips come up empty.  Mina Charter School would lead the contest 7-0 at halftime.  Mina Charter School converted the first basket of the second half and increased their lead to 9-0.  Despite being down by 9 points, the Falcons did not get discouraged.  Finally, about halfway through the third quarter, Riley Havenstein knocked in the Falcons first basket of the game.  However, Mina would immediately answer with another basket to increase their lead to 11-2.  What they didn’t know was that it would be their last points of the game.  The Falcons cranked up the pressure and extended their man-to-man defense to full-court pressure.  From that point forward, the Falcons methodically chipped away at the lead and with about a minute remaining, Elizabeth Cordero's inbounds baseball pass found Joelle Cole streaking up the court and Joelle finished at the rim to give the Falcons a 12-11 advantage.  Riley Havenstein’s steal with 10 seconds remaining would ice the victory for the Falcons.  Riley Havenstein led the way for the Falcons, scoring 4 points while Joelle Cole (3 points), Beth Cordero (2 points), Vivienne Rhue (2 points), and Maggie Lucas (1 point) also scored.
 
MS and Varsity Swimming
The Lady Falcons won their first meet against Grace Christian of Raleigh on Thursday 111 to 97. The Falcons started off the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay with the team of Victoria York, Lauren Hobbs, Michaela Stone and Jordin Reed. The team, although young, swam strong throughout the meet with break though performances from 7th graders Malia Stone and Colette Lovsin. The Lady Falcons are led by Captain's Lauren Hobbs and Victoria York.

The Men's team lost a close meet to Grace of Raleigh 107-102. The Falcons are a young team but showed strength and improvement overall. The team is led by Junior captain John Shepherd. 

In the meet, the following swimmers qualified for the State meet: Victoria York, Morgan Lewis, John Shepherd, Lauren Hobbs, Colette Lovsin, Radford Walker,  Jordin Reed, Michaela Stone, Andrew Davis, Mathew Fisher, Carson Pusser, and Malia Stone.

Photos by Wendy Hodges
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