APEX — Middle Creek senior Nelson Kirksey said he didn’t intend to single-handedly keep pace with visiting Cary High (6-6, 1-1) in the first half of Friday night’s 56-41 Middle Creek win. Kirksey ignited early for the Mustangs, scoring 21 of Middle Creek’s 36 first-half points. The Imps managed only 23 at the half after starting strong with a 17-point first quarter.

“Well, I was just trying to do it for my team, that’s all,” Kirksey said. “I was just doing my job and not trying to do too much, just trying to do my job and get that ‘W’.”

The explosive 6-foot-3 forward led all scorers with 25 points.

Kirksey scored in transition, including a first-half ally-oop and a fourth-quarter dunk. He scored inside and he scored outside with a trio of 3-pointers.

“That’s the scary thing about him, it can happen at any time,” Middle Creek point guard Kip Kelley said of his classmate. “You can’t really stop him because he comes on rebounds. That’s not really the kind of stuff you can practice for. Then when he’s shooting the ball, it’s the full package. It’s fun.”

Cary coach Alan Gustafson pointed out that Kirksey is just one-third of a three-headed Middle Creek monster that’s tough to stop. Garrius Adams, a 6-5 junior guard, and Kelley, a four-year starter at point guard, make the Mustangs hard to guard. All three are averaging double figures with Adams at 15.8 points per game, Kirksey at 15.2 and Kelley at 12.1 per outing. Adams said having two senior teammates playing so effectively takes a lot of pressure off of him.

“When [Kirksey] gets going, he’s hard to stop,” Adams said. “Everybody on this team, once [Kelley] gets started, I get started or us three, once we all get started it’s undefeated the whole way.”

And that’s how it’s been so far for the Mustangs, who improved to 12-0 overall. Middle Creek is off to an impressive start in the Tri-Eight, too, going 3-0 against Apex (3-8, 0-3), Green Hope (8-4, 1-2) and Cary.

“It’s tough to play those three teams, all traditionally very good, right in a row,” Middle Creek coach David Kushner said. “So, to be 3-0 after that is very, very important. I didn’t think we played our best. I don’t think Cary played their best. It was kind of an ugly game, but those are the kind of games you need to be able to win.”

Kelley agreed, saying that he and his teammates are still looking for that perfect game.

“We missed so many open shots and layups. but we still won by 15,” he said. “And that’s why we’re happiest. We don’t think we’ve played a great game where we’ve hit every shot and we’re winning by 15 or 16, so that’s always a positive.”

Panther Creek (11-2, 3-0) and Athens Drive (11-2, 3-0) also remained undefeated in conference play with wins Friday, and the Tri-Eight race is about to get very interesting as all three prepare to mix it up. The Jaguars visit Panther Creek this Friday and host Middle Creek on Jan. 18. The Catamounts travel to Middle Creek on Jan. 22.