On Senior Night for the Fike High varsity boys basketball team, it was underclassmen who played like they didn’t want to lose.
Coming off a heartbreaking loss Friday night in overtime to 3-A Big East Conference frontrunner Rocky Mount, the Golden Demons found themselves off to a slow start Tuesday versus Northern Nash.
Trailing 11-2 within a span of 110 seconds, Fike turned to the combination of junior Kyshon Atkinson and sophomore Jahmar Jones to get it back into contention, and took a one-point lead into the waning stages of the first half.
However, the Demons finished the second quarter poorly in allowing a pair of second-chance opportunities, and Northern Nash closed the half on an 11-2 run that ultimately doomed Fike to an 86-60 loss in its home finale.
Fike, which lost its fourth straight game, dropped to 2-8 overall and 1-8 in Big East play ahead of its season finale Friday at archrival Hunt. Northern Nash, which must rely on an unlikely wild-card bid into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association postseason, climbed to 6-3 — all in conference play after Nash County Schools canceled the balance of nonconference schedules for its teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We got a little lazy at the end of the first half,” Fike head coach Brent Secrest lamented. “We gave up a rebound on a free throw. The guys played hard, but we just didn’t do some good things on offense tonight. (Northern Nash) is very talented and quick, and we just don’t have that quickness to match them.”
Atkinson did what he could, pumping in 12 of his game-high 20 points in the first quarter. His 3-pointer brought the Demons within 20-17, and a layup from Lamont Batts, one of two Fike seniors alongside A.J. Leach, brought the hosts within one at the close of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Jones converted a three-point play to put the Demons ahead, and a pair of Atkinson free throws gave Fike its largest lead of 29-25.But from there, little seemed to go right in Fike’s quest to knock off a team in the upper half of the Big East. Northern Nash closed on a 15-2 spurt, including a pair of putbacks — one by Sencere Battle and another from Caleb Reams off a free throw as time expired. The latter left Secrest kicking the home bench before departing for the locker room.
Foul trouble to Atkinson contributed to Fike’s fade late in the first half as it trailed 40-31.
“There was a lot going on,” Atkinson said. “Then, I got in foul trouble and that hurt us as a team because I’m kind of the key to the team and coach kind of builds it around me. I feel like I motivate them, and they motivate me.”
Fike promptly fell behind by double digits to open the third quarter. An Atkinson layup briefly pulled the Demons within seven, but a 7-0 spurt, including a three-point play by Malik Hill, put Northern Nash up 47-33. Fike never trailed by less than 13 points the rest of the way.
Four players finished in double figures for Northern Nash, led by the 17 points of Reams. Battle and Hill each had 13. Jones tossed in 10 points for the Demons.
The Fike deficit grew to as many as 28 late in the fourth quarter. Northern Nash held a 12-2 advantage on second-chance opportunities and used its quickness off the dribble to get into the paint for easy layups.
“We don’t have to worry about Kyshon coming to play,” Secrest said. “He takes it personally, and when we lose, he takes it personally. He’ll come and apologize, I guarantee it. He’ll text me tonight and apologize that he didn’t do enough. That’s the type of kid Kyshon is, and I’m sure glad we’ve got him back another year.”
But the hyper-focus was getting one more win at home for the senior duo of Leach and Batts.
“I wanted to get it real bad,” Atkinson said. “I was talking to them the whole game, telling them we were going to go out there and do our thing and show out for the crowd. It was their last home game, and I told them we were going to get one. But, we came up short today.”
