APEX - For Apex forward Adam Dalbo, a bloody lip was a small price to pay in order to keep his team in first place of the Tri-Nine Conference. Dalbo and the rest of the Cougars (13-4, 10-1) protected their perch on top of the standings with a 63-42 win over second-place Panther Creek on Friday night.

The Catamounts (10-6, 7-3) are the only team to have handed Apex a Tri-Nine loss, and a win would’ve catapulted them into first place due to head-to-head tiebreaker. Instead, Apex ran away with the contest on a 31-8 run that streched over the final three quarters.

Dalbo said Apex was focused due to a previous loss to Panther Creek, which was decided on a reverse tip-in of a last-second airball, and a week-long layoff as players completed exams this week.

“That first loss was just crushing … when that ball went in my heart just dropped,” Dalbo said. “We were all fired up coming out this game. We just came out right off the jump ball giving our all. We were trying to make a point.”

“I didn’t have any exams, I was exempt from all of mine, so I was just sitting around, chomping at the bit waiting for this game.

Dalbo scored just two points, but the gutsy power forward pulled down nine rebounds and dished out seven assists. He left the game in the fourth quarter after a stray elbow caused profuse bleeding.

Fellow senior Mike Fogg was electric for the Cougars, scoring 25 points – 15 coming in the first half – along with nine rebounds and seven steals. Despite being 5-11, Fogg muscled his way to the basket and often finished plays at or above the rim.

“I figured I had to come big in this game,” Fogg said. “Early in the game, the lane was open so I drove it every time.”

Neal had high praise for Fogg.

“The first thing out of my mouth in the locker room was that ‘Mike was spectacular tonight,’” Neal said. “I love Mike’s style. He’s just quiet, goes about his business and doesn’t talk any smack. Tonight was his best game of the year.”

Apex jumped out to an 8-0 lead in front of a packed crowd at Apex High. Panther Creek came back in the quarter to trail 16-13 but never led.

The Cougars put the pedal to the floor in the second and third quarters, taking a 12-point lead into halftime and a 22-point lead into the fourth. A big reason was the Cougars’ defense, which forced 18 steals on the night.

“In the first game we started off man-to-man, so we decided to go with [a 2-3 zone] which I don’t think they were ready for,” Fogg said. “We kind of confused them [with a zone].”

Weston Murphy (10 points, seven rebounds) and Connor Belicic (11 points, three 3-pointers) completed Apex’s trio of double-digit scorers. The Cougars have now won six of their last seven.

“I probably made too much of a big deal during the week about No. 1 versus No. 2 tonight, because there’s so much more basketball to be played,” Neal said. “We feel great to have a two-game lead, but it’s far from over.”