RALEIGH — Less than two months ago, Apex stood at 4-10 overall without a conference win to its credit. Now, the Cougars find themselves in a sectional final after a nail-biting 50-49 win over Millbrook in the second round of the NCHSAA 4-A Thursday night.

After the game, Apex coach David Neal praised the Cougars for the never-say-die attitude they’ve exhibited while going 12-2 over the past seven weeks.

They’d need every ounce of that grit and confidence to pull out the pressure-packed road victory. The next task at hand is 27-2 Clayton on Friday.

"Coach told us to keep fighting and we kept fighting, we never gave up," said DeArius White, who led the Cougars with 19 points. "At the beginning of the year, everyone counted us out. He told us seasons are made in January and February.

"We believed in our team. Any given night, anyone of us can step up."

Thursday night, White was the one.

With the Cougars down by six at the start of the fourth quarter, White scored eight points on a 12-0 Apex run as the Cougars reclaimed the lead at 47-41 with 1:53 to go.

However, it was when Millbrook took the lead back 21 seconds left that the Cougars needed him the most.

And White delivered, driving to the basket for the go-ahead bucket with 8.8 seconds left.

"He’s been our heart and soul all year. I was amazed at how resilient he was and the plays he made down the stretch," Neal said

But Millbrook – and the game — wasn’t quite finished. The Wildcats’ Joe Houpe was fouled on a jumper with 1.5 seconds remaining and the Cougars up 50-49.

With two free throws, the Wildcats had a chance to tie or take the lead, but both shots fell short. The Cougars’ Brandon Carr grabbed the rebound off the second miss as the Apex players and fans making the trip to north Raleigh celebrated.

"It was a crazy game. We’ve had a lot of those this year," Neal said.

"It’s been a special group. Now we are playing in a sectional final," he added. "We’ve shown a lot of resiliency this year. Tonight we showed a lot of grit." On the opposite end, a hard-fought Millbrook squad that had only lost once in 2008 ended its season in heartbreaking fashion.

"It was all about defense. We were missing some shots, they were getting some stops," Millbrook coach Scott McInnes said. "There’s 200 teams in the state and all of them will have that feeling unless they win [the state championship].

"But these guys just hung tough. They’re a special group."