By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Southeast Alamance’s boys’ basketball team finished as runner-up in the Holiday Hoopla for the third year in a row.
The host Stallions didn’t protect an eight-point lead in the final 2½ minutes of regulation in a 68-65 overtime loss to Middle Creek in the tournament’s championship game Tuesday night.
Southeast’s James Kenan scored the first basket of overtime before Middle Creek racked up the next nine points. The Stallions closed within 63-62 but never caught up.
Southeast (8-3) led by 14 points in the second quarter and held a 32-21 halftime lead. But foul trouble interfered, with Donnie Fairley picking up his fourth foul early in the third quarter.
Southeast scored five points in the third quarter as the lead dwindled to two points. But 3-point baskets from Landon Gardner and Nate Yellock came in response as the Stallions regained momentum. Fairley fouled out with 1:01 left in regulation.
A three-point play from Middle Creek’s George Daniels tied the score at 53-53 with 34 seconds left.
Daniels finished with 24 points and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. All-tournament selection Cole Cornelius and Isaiah St. Hill both had 13 points for the Mustangs, while Nic Bocciardi also was an all-tournament pick.
Davian Edwards had 19 points for Southeast, while teammates Kenan (16 points) and Fairley (13 points) were named to the all-tournament team.
Middle Creek (9-4), a Wake County school, earlier defeated East Chapel Hill 63-40 and Green Hope 43-39 to reach the final.
Southeast opened the event by clobbering Carrboro 89-41 and then topped Apex 70-61.
Against Carrboro, Fairley and JaKhai McKenzie, who hit four 3-point shots, both scored 18 points, Edwards had 14 points, and Logan Luang-Sy had all 12 of his points in the fourth quarter. In the Apex game, Fairley’s 26 points and Edwards’ 23 points were tops.
Green Hope beat Apex 57-45 in the third-place game; East Chapel defeated Orange 62-51 in the fifth-place game; and Cedar Ridge nipped Carrboro 46-45 for seventh place.
[Story continues below special subscription offer.]
FOR THE BEST LOCAL SPORTS COVERAGE, DURING BASKETBALL AND EVERY OTHER SPORT’S SEASON, YOU NEED TO BE READING THE ALAMANCE NEWS. SUBSCRIBE FOR 2026 BELOW:
Ledford Holiday Tournament
Western Alamance forfeited the third-place game Tuesday to North Davidson, coach Ryan Suttles said, so that team members could attend a Rosary for the respose for Eamon Hipps, a Western student and athlete who died Saturday night in an automobile accident.
Earlier, Western routed South Davidson 72-17 on the tournament’s first day, with Drew Cohn scoring 12 points and Jayden Jones adding nine points.
The Warriors fell by 68-51 to Oak Grove in the semifinals despite Cohn’s 14 points and Camden Oliviera’s 10 points. Matt Huffman had nine points and 10 rebounds.
