Athens (11-2, 3-0) pushed ahead in a see-saw first quarter and led 13-9 going into the second. Fuquay forward Derrick Black began his scoring rampage with six of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter.

Athens went on to a 21-19 halftime lead, creating turnovers and scoring in transition, but Fuquay’s 3-point shooting kept the game close throughout the first half.

The pivotal third quarter became a showdown between Black and Athens’ Quentin Edmundson, who scored 12 third-quarter points. Black helped regain the lead for Fuquay, only to see it slip away soon after.

The advantage eventually went to Athens, however, as Edmundson punished Fuquay’s zone defense with three 3-pointers in the third quarter. Edmundson’s hot hand was a major factor in the win, said Athens coach Robert Clemons.

“If we don’t attack that zone and get aggressive, then we kind of fall asleep and let teams off the hook,” Clemons said. “But Quentin hit some big shots and that kept them at bay.”

Athens led 42-36 at the end of the third quarter, behind an energetic defense that held off a Fuquay comeback.

“We wanted to be more aggressive defensively,” Clemons said. “We came in at halftime and didn’t feel we were aggressive enough. We just wanted to turn the heat up a little bit and create turnovers that lead to offense. And we finally got some big defensive stops.”

Fuquay (3-10, 0-3) looked to push the tempo in the fourth quarter and mount a comeback. A Black basket even cut the lead to two points at one time.

Athens’ Ulysses Watkins began making his presence known in the fourth quarter, scoring a crowd-pleasing dunk on offense and blocking shots on defense to frustrate Fuquay.

Eventually the Jaguars kept their composure and slowed the tempo enough to hold off Fuquay for the eight-point win, though Fuquay’s intensity never gave Athens much breathing room.

“In the fourth quarter coach told us to slow the ball down and don’t rush shots,” Edmundson said. “It was a close game but we still know we can score off the motion offense, and we didn’t need to rush.”

According to Edmundson, who finished with 19 points, the win was a confidence boost for the Jaguars, as they move to 3-0 in the conference, and rebounded from an ugly 60-39 loss to Enloe during its holiday tournament.

“In the Christmas tournament we didn’t do too good, and we were kind of shaken up a little bit,” Edmundson said. “We’re trying to get hard practices because we’re getting into the heart of the season.”