RALEIGH – Fuquay-Varina (6-15, 4-10) entered Friday’s Tri-9 conference clash at Athens Drive (9-10, 6-7) on a two-game win streak, and got very close to making it three wins in a row. The Jaguars led throughout the game, but Fuquay used a fourth quarter rally to close to within four points only to see Athens wriggle away for a 47-36 win.

Bengals junior, Dominique Byrd led all scorers in the game with 17 points on what was a cold shooting night for both teams.

Fuquay had beaten Holly Springs and Green Hope in the two games prior, and was looking to move up from sixth place in the conference against fifth place Athens.

The Bengals downed Green Hope on Thursday, 63-51, in overtime. Byrd scored 15 against the Falcons and Tarek Behairy chipped in 14 points. Keith Watson added eight.

Lady Bengals Basketball

The Fuquay girls (3-16, 1-13) had a hard week, dropping two conference games. First place, Green Hope (22-0, 15-0) blasted Fuquay on Thursday, 79-43 and Athens Drive (17-3, 11-2) dropped the Bengals, 62-34 on Friday.