CARY - The Tri-Nine Conference boys and girls basketball tournament finals were decided on Wednesday at Panther Creek High School after a quadruple-header for the semifinals. After three blowouts and a closely-contested nightcap, the top two seeds in each bracket advanced.

On the girls side, Athens Drive (22-3) and Green Hope (25-0) will meet at 6 p.m. on Friday. The boys title game will feature Apex (21-4) against Middle Creek (18-7).

In the day's first game, the second-seeded Athens girls used a suffocating defense to defeat 3-seed Middle Creek 43-24. The Lady Mustangs posted just nine points in the first half.

Green Hope kept its undefeated year alive with a 62-34 walloping of last year's champ, 4-seed Apex. The Lady Falcons led 44-10 at half.

Athens and Green Hope are ranked first and second in the N&O area basketball polls. The two met twice this year, and the Lady Falcons pulled out wins with less than five seconds remaining in both.

"I think it's going to be a good game. I think it's going to be a war," Green Hope coach Michael Robinson said. "Both teams are playing the way they need to be playing at this time of year."

It's a match-up the Lady Jaguars have been craving since their last meeting.

In that game, a Jags assistant was whistled for a technical foul after a personal foul was called with 30 seconds remaining. Green Hope hit three free throws and a 3-pointer to turn a five-point deficit into a one-point win without having to give the ball back.

"It's an opportunity for us to go out and play well," Athens coach Chris Danehower said.

For the boys, Apex and Middle Creek will meet one week after their last meeting, a 41-38 win by Apex on Feb. 12.

The Middle Creek boys dominated from start to finish against 3-seed Panther Creek. After finishing the first quarter up 21-4, the Catamounts never got any closer than 11.

The Mustangs return to the championship game after a one-year hiatus in 2009.

"We're playing our best basketball of the year," Middle Creek coach David Kushner said.

In the day's final game, Apex led 14-4 after the first quarter but a third quarter eruption by Athens brought the Jags within four. A Rahim Jenkins 3-pointer with 5:18 gave Athens its first lead.

However, Apex went on a 13-5 run to close out the game for the 57-50 win.

"[Athens] took the lead and they had all the momentum in the world," Apex coach Dave Neal said. "I told our guys that I thought we showed a tremendous amount of toughness to execute."

Senior center Weston Murphy led all scorers with 20 points, half of those coming at the line.

The girls game will tip at 6 p.m. on Friday with the boys game following at 8 p.m.