APEX — Sometimes they’re pretty and sometimes they’re ugly, but a win is a win as far as the Middle Creek boys’ basketball team is concerned. And the wins are piling up fast this season.

After cruising to a 4-0 record to start the season, Middle Creek faced and overcame the season’s first adversity in a 64-61 win against Sanderson on Friday.

“We couldn’t make foul shots tonight,” Middle Creek coach David Kushner said. “Just about every single one of our players was in foul trouble. It just seemed like every little thing we did went wrong — until the last minute.”

The Mustangs were down by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter with Garrius Adams, a Division I prospect, on the bench much of the second half in foul trouble. However, Adams is not the only dangerous Mustang.

Senior point guard Kip Kelley scored four of his game-high 23 points inside the last two minutes.

Explosive forward Nelson Kirksey grabbed a steal and converted two crucial free throws down the stretch, and Adams chipped in four of his 14 before fouling out with 21 seconds remaining.

Those three are proving to be a formidable triple threat for Middle Creek.

Adams, a 6-4 junior who already has scholarship offers from East Carolina and High Point, is scoring 16.8 points per game. Kelley is averaging 15.8 and the 6-foot-3 Kirksey is contributing 13.2 per outing.

The balance doesn’t end there, though.

Tom Tankelwicz, a 6-4 guard, is averaging about eight points per game and 6-6 forward Brian Proulx is adding 6.6.

“That’s something we’ve never had,” Kushner said of the balanced offensive production. “Now we’ve got three guys averaging double figures. I think we have two more that could if they needed to.”

Opponents are having to pick their poison this season with all that Middle Creek firepower. Last winter, the Mustangs faced a procession of sagging man-to-man or zone defenses designed to slow down 6-9 forward Marcus Kitts, now at William & Mary.

Now Middle Creek’s opponents must spread out. Kirksey is more accurate with his outside shot and Tankelwicz can hit from downtown. Kelley and Adams are as dangerous as ever from the perimeter. That leaves plenty of driving lanes for everybody.

There should be many double-digit wins in the Mustangs’ future, but after the squeaker over Sanderson, Kelley said he and his teammates know they can get the close ones too.

“It’s tough to play bad with a lot of controversy and still win in the end,” he said. “That’s what true championship teams have to do.”

Kushner said he was pleased to see a deep determination in his players for the first time this season. He said he hopes they don’t have to tap into it too often, but he’s glad it’s there if needed.

“I think tonight was a good indication that we are not unbeatable, by any means,” Kushner said. “And we needed that, too, because we haven’t really had a real close game. It also showed them that they had something in them that maybe they didn’t realize they had.”