Pinehurst — Fullington Academy’s Trojans made their debut defeat a close one, but the Lady Trojans saw their third start of the season turn into a decisive loss during Friday night competition against Flint River.

Coach Van Bailey’s boys actually led for most of the night before bowing to the Wildcats 52-48. Coach Mike Cason’s girls, however, were never in contention on their way to a 46-22 setback.

Both Fullington teams will be in action on Monday at home against Valwood and on Tuesday in Dawson vs. Terrell Academy.

Wildcats 52, Trojans 48

Hit hard by graduation after last season 21-8 run, the youthful Trojans still managed to make a game of it against an experienced-laden Wildcats squad that returned intact.

In a contest that was close all the way, Flint River led 11-9 after  a quarter before Fullington forged ahead 24-19 and 37-33 at the next two rest breaks.

The Wildcats, who were making their third start of the new campaign, were able to come out on top when they won the scoring battle in the final period, 19-11.

“Coming in, we knew we had a lot of inexperience and it showed in the early going. With three of our guys making their first varsity starts and three of our top subs seeing their first varsity action, we were a bundle of nerves.

“All things considered, though, I was pleased, We played well together as a team plus the guys hustled and left it all on the court. We were, however, a little undisciplined in our aggressiveness at times and we need to improve on that.

“While I’m never happy with a loss, I did see some potential that makes me believe we’ll have to be looked at when it get to the meat of our schedule in January.  For now, we’re where I thought we’d be.”

David Roney finished with a double-double in defeat, scoring 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Braden Shealy also reached double digits in points (10) for the Trojans. Russell Durand paced the winners with 13.

Scoring

Flint River 11-8-14-19 — 52

Fullington 9-15-13-11 — 48

Scoring

  Flint River (52) — Scott Porter 9, Patrick McGinn 10, Russell Durand 13, Dalton Johnson 5, Stewart Gregg 10, Seth Short 5.

  Team totals: field goals 16; free throws 17 of 27 (63%); fouls 13; 3-pointers — Porter 1, McGinn 1, Durand 1; fouled out — none.

 Fullington (48) — Levi McKinney 9, Paul Dossett, Gavin Reed, Jim Hartin 5, Braden Shealy 10, Mark McCleskey 9, Daniel Cape 4, David Roney 11.

  Team totals: field goals 20; free throws 4 of 8 (50%); fouls 22; 3-pointers — Hartin 1, McCleskey 3; fouled out — Roney, McKinney.

Flint River 46, Fullington 22

Limited to single-digit points production in all four quarters of play, the now 1-2 Lady Trojans saw their deficit continue to grow through the first three stanzas of play. It was 13-1, 22-5 and 44-13 in favor of Flint River at the rest breaks.

“Having to put together a brand new team that doesn’t have a lot of experience, we’re really struggling offensively right now,” Cason said.

“We also had problems defensively as when it came to trying to hold Maghan Gregg, their leading scorer for the last couple of years, in check. Despite trying man and two different zone defenses, we couldn’t do much as she wound up with 26 points.

“Plus, they got some easy baskets off the break at times and also with their size advantage beat us on the boards.”

Playing without Rachel McCleskey, its leading scorer in the first two games with an average of 18.5, Fullington had just one player reach double digits. That distinction belonged to Darrian Bailey with 11.

Score by Quarters

Flint River 13-9-22-2 — 46

Fullington 1-4-8-9 — 22

Scoring

  Flint River (46) — Courtney King 2, Liz Barnes 10, Maghan Gregg 26, Abby Porter 2, Carly Edmondson 4, Leah Stewart 2.

   Team totals:: field goals 18; free throws 8 of 15 (53.3%); fouls 19; 3-pointers — Barnes 2; fouled out — none.

   Fullington (22) — Darrian Bailey 11, Hannah Clemons, Meredith McGlamory, Lena van Assendelft 5, Wellsley Martin, Leah Thompson, Madison Warbington 2, Lex van Assendelft 4, Alyssa Edwards, Logan Blake.

   Team totals: field goals 7; free throws 8 of 18 (44.4%); fouls 14; 3-pointers — none; fouled out — none.