Fike Squeezes Past Northern Nash

The Fike men’s varsity basketball team finally got the conference win they have been longing for all season. After a close back-and-forth game, the demons came out on top 53-51. “It’s nice,” the relieved Secrest said of dodging the conference oh-fer. “It’s a good feeling to play a complete game. The kids played hard, played loose and had fun playing the game.” Fike held a 51-50 lead with 2.1 seconds remaining when Northern Nash’s Isaac Dupree was fouled. He netted the first one which resulted in Fike’s Coach Secrest to call a timeout. That timeout was probably the most “clutch” call of his career. After the timeout, Dupree missed the second attempt and Fike senior guard Sam Ellis won the rebound with 0.6 seconds left. Ellis made the first free throw then deliberately missed the second. “I wanted to ice (Dupree),” Secrest assured. “But, No. 2, I wanted to make sure our guys were boxing out and getting the rebound. Then, No. 3, if (Dupree) made the free throw, I wanted to make sure we didn’t get careless on the inbounds pass and allow them to score a layup and win the game.” Fike was led by Trevon Virgil with 12 points, Sam Ellis with 11, and AJ Hines with 9. “Fike was hungry and I knew coming over here it was going to be a tough game,” Ruffin said. “But we were in position to win at the end — and that’s all I can ask.” Fike welcomes rival Hunt Friday.