CARY - Following Holly Springs' 66-45 win against Tri-Nine Conference foe Cary in the third-place game of the four-team Holiday Invitational Bracket, Golden Hawks coach Richard Young happened to run into Cary coach Donald Kent.

Young had just finished holding his team's press conference, and Kent was on his way into the media room to conduct his.

The two grinned, and it was immediately evident the coaches shared a familiarity rare at holiday tournaments. Cary (7-5, 4-2) and Holly Springs (8-4, 5-1) already had squared off to kick off conference play in November. That meeting resulted in a 62-38 home win for the Golden Hawks.

"If we even gave you a crack (to shoot) today, the ball went in," Kent said to Young. "I looked at the girls on the bench and said, 'Girls, there's nothing I can tell you.' Because I didn't think we played a bad game."

"They were just going in today, man. Free throws and 3-pointers," Young replied. "When we played y'all the first time, we didn't hit any threes."

Holly Springs made five of its eight attempts from beyond the arc and converted 54.5 percent of their field goal attempts; Cary made 40.5 percent.

Members of the same conference who play a home-and-home series during the regular season, rarely meet in non-conference tournaments. But that's precisely what happened Tuesday after both teams lost their first games. Cary fell 65-39 to Cary Academy and Holly Springs fell short against eventual bracket champ Rocky Mount, 61-48.

Despite his seemingly friendly relationship with Young, Kent wasn't too pleased about having to play the Golden Hawks three times in one year, especially because the game will not count toward conference standings.

It's not just the Imps' coach who shares that mentality - Holly Springs sophomore forward Kiara Leslie also admitted that she would have rather played a team outside the Tri-Nine.

Even though she may not have been playing her ideal opponent, Leslie made sure her team came out of the game with a victory.

Leslie, the sister of N.C. State men's basketball player C.J. Leslie, scored 20 points against Cary and was named to the all-tournament team.

Junior forward Whitney Coleman led the Imps with 22 points, and was also named to the all-tournament team.

"I don't know if it's just against us, but (Coleman) shoots the ball well," Young told Kent, before asking if Coleman was a senior.

When Kent replied Coleman was only a junior, Young sighed. The Cary coach quickly reminded Young that he had nothing to complain about.

"You got Leslie, (and she is only) a sophomore, so I don't want to hear any of that," Kent shot back, and the two coaches laughed.

"Well, I'll see you in a couple of weeks," said Young, on his way out of the media room, referring to the two schools' Jan. 10 matchup at Cary.

"I know, we'll do it all over again," Kent shouted after him.

The two teams have played each other enough to know each other's strengths. If Kent's next game plan to stop Leslie doesn't work, he has several more games - and two years - to find one that does.