Falcons Nest January 27th

 

The Falcons started the week off on the road Monday at Salem Baptist. The Falcons played a great game shooting 50% from the 3-point line and 90% from the FT line. Foul trouble hurt the Falcons in the 3^rd quarter allowing Salem to gain some momentum going into the 4^th quarter. Will Slagle led all scorers with 21 pts, also contributing were Malachy White (18 pts and 8 ast), D’Marion Tomlinson (11pts and 6rebs), Kanye Mckeithen (9 pts and 6 rebs), Holt Neville (3 pts, 2 ast), and Dakota Benders (7 pts and 3 rebs),  

The Falcons traveled to Caldwell Academy on Thursday night. The Falcons came out the gates strong playing well on defense forcing Caldwell to struggle early in the 1^st quarter. The Falcons fought hard but struggled to find offense without our starting shooting guard. Leading the Falcons in points was Malachy White (15 pts, 7 rebs). Contributing to the action was D’Marion Tomlinson (14pts, 5rebs,3ast), Dakota Bender (4 pts, 2 rebs), Nick Joyce (4pts, 4 rebs), Kanye McKeithen (4 pts, 7 rebs), Holt Neville (3 pts, 2 ast), and Harrison Franklin (2 pts, 4 rebs)  

The Falcons will return to action on Friday, January 27^th on the road against Burlington Christian Academy.

 

Thursday night the Falcons traveled to Greensboro to take on Caldwell Academy in a non-conference match-up. A quick start saw the Falcons jump out to a 19-9 first-quarter lead behind hot shooting from behind the 3-point arc. The Falcons continued to use their defense to create quick transition opportunities and kept a strong lead throughout the contest. In the end, the Falcons won 54-39 grabbing a strong 2A road week.

The Falcons were led in scoring by sophomore Ashanti Fox (20 points). Joining her in double figures were Kennedy Moore (13 points) and Tamiya Judd (12 points). Rounding out the Falcon scoring were Reily Johnson (5 points), Clara Tanner (2 points), and Brooklyn Adams (2 points).

The Falcons move to 19-2 overall with the victory and will finish the regular season with three Tri TAC conference contests. Next Tuesday, January 31^st, the Falcons will celebrate Senior Night prior to their tip-off against Trinity School.

The Men’s and Women's swim teams are focusing on fine-tuning the small details of their swim events and are preparing to swim at The Tri-Tac Conference swim meet this coming Monday, January 30th. The meet is at Triangle Aquatics in Cary and begins at 10:45 AM.

 

The Falcons had a week of practice preparing for a tough road game at Burlington Christian Academy on Friday, January 27^th. The Falcons JV Boys will return to action next week on January 31^st at home against Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill at 4:00 pm and conclude their season on February 3^rd on the road at Carolina Friends at 4:00 pm

 

The boys middle school basketball team had a great week of basketball.  The boys traveled to Fayetteville Christian early in the week, outscoring their conference opponent 36-20.  Top earners for the night were Will Haarlow and Christian Lyles with 11 points each.  Wells Kuester also brought in eight for the Falcons rounding out a big win.  The boys showed a lot of maturity and discipline and brought home the win.  The Falcons then played inner-city opponent St. John Paul II winning by a wide margin.  The boys went into the game with a very specific plan, and they executed it perfectly.  Top scorers for the night were Jackson Mullis (13), Jacob Lindsey (14), and Wells Kuester (10).  The Falcons will head into their last week of regular season play against Fayetteville Academy at home and then round out the season against the #1 team in the conference, Freedom Christian.

The O’Neal School – 43 vs Fayetteville Christian School - 37

In their first game of the week, our Falcons traveled to Fayetteville to take on the Warriors of Fayetteville Christian School.  The first quarter would see a back-and-forth affair between the Falcons and the Warriors as our Falcons held a slim 8-7 lead.  The second quarter would see a much different result, however, as Gianna Maheu sat the entire quarter on the bench with three fouls and the Falcons struggled to find the basket, scoring only four points in the quarter. While the Falcons struggled, the Warriors poured in 15 points and enjoyed a 22-12 lead at halftime. The struggles continued for the Falcons in the third quarter as the Warriors extended their lead to 31-18 to start the fourth. The Warriors scored once again to start the fourth quarter and took their largest lead of the game at 33-18.  Then, the Falcons finally got it going. A three-point basket by Emeli Michael and consecutive lay-ups by Gianna Maheu triggered a Warriors timeout. Out of the timeout, the Falcons used suffocating full-court defense to turn the Warriors over on consecutive possessions. Little by little, but in quick fashion, our Falcons clawed their way back and took the lead with 55 seconds remaining. A few more lay-ups and several free throws were added to the scoring total as the Falcons would walk away with a hard-fought 43-37 victory as they exploded for 25 fourth-quarter points. Gianna Maheu led the Falcons with 17 points and was joined in double figures by Emeli Michael with 15 points of her own. Sofie Itegie (6 points), Lillie McIntosh (4 points), and Lindsey Havenstein (3 points) also scored.

The O’Neal School – 36 vs Saint John Paul - 11

In their second game of the week, our Falcons hosted Saint John Paul. Stiff defense and balance on the offensive end would define this game from the start. Our Falcons held Saint John Paul scoreless in the first quarter while Gianna Maheu, Emeli Michael, Lillie McIntosh, and Livi Afable all converted on the offensive end to propel the Falcons to a 14-0 first-quarter lead.  The balanced effort would set the tone the rest of the way as seven Falcons would score in this one and the collective defense of the Falcons would limit Saint John Paul to only 11 points for the game.  The Falcons easily coasted to a 36-11 victory while running their conference record to 8-0 and their overall record to 13-1.  Gianna Maheu led all scorers in this one with 11 points while Emeli Michael joined her in double figures with 10.  Callie Garrison (4 points), Sofie Itegie (4 points), Lillie McIntosh (3 points), Lindsey Havenstein (2 points), and Livi Afable (2 points) also scored.

The Trinity School of Durham Middle School basketball team emerged victorious in a hard-fought battle against The O'Neal School Boys Middle School 'B' team, the Falcons. The final score was 41-17 in favor of Trinity School. Jaxon Graves and Christian Baker were the top scorers for the Falcons, with 4 points and 8 points respectively. Despite their efforts, the Trinity School team proved too strong for the Falcons to overcome. The Falcons' defense, led by Tanner Massey and Gabe Marrero, put up a strong performance and kept the Trinity School team on their toes. However, the Trinity School's offense proved too potent for the Falcons' defense to contain. The Trinity School team displayed strong teamwork and excellent ball movement throughout the game, which proved to be the key to their victory. The O'Neal School team, on the other hand, struggled to find their rhythm on offense, which ultimately led to their defeat.

The Falcons Next game is home on Wednesday, February 1 at 4:30 vs. Mina Charter School

The O’Neal School “B” team – 24 vs Trinity School of Durham - 14

In their only game of the week, our Falcons “B” team took on the Lions from Trinity School of Durham. Behind suffocating defense and early baskets by Joelle Cole, Vivienne Rhue, and Beth Cordero, our Falcons jumped out to a quick lead within the first few minutes of play and held an 8-5 lead to conclude the first quarter. The Falcons turned up the defense in the second quarter, allowing Trinity only three points, while Joelle Cole would account for all eight of the Falcons' points in the quarter and the Falcons led 16-8 at halftime. The second half would follow a similar script as our Falcons continued to crank up the defensive intensity while the Lions continued to struggle to stop Joelle Cole as she poured in eight more points and the Falcons cruised to a 24-14 victory. Joelle Cole led all scorers with 18 points while Vivienne Rhue (4 points) and Beth Cordero (2 points) also scored.

Photos by Wendy Hodges