Or maybe it was a lack of other drivable holiday tournaments - the Tri-Nine Challenge was done away with this year.

Whatever the reason, the majority of Tri-Nine Conference boys basketball teams wound up in one of two holiday tournaments and many played one another.

But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing for Apex and Green Hope.

Apex won the Spartan Christmas Challenge, hosted by Southern Durham High School.

Green Hope won the Yellow Jacket Holiday Invitational, hosted by Lee County High School.

Apex's road to the title included a 47-43 win against Wakefield, a 61-44 defeat of Bunn and a crushing 77-44 blowout of Tri-Nine foe Panther Creek in the title game.

Sophomore T.J. Evans averaged 20 points per game for the champion Cougars.

Holly Springs, which lost to Panther Creek in the semifinals, finished third in the tournament with a 45-39 defeat of Bunn. The Golden Hawks scored a 48-46 win against Durham Riverside in the tournament-opener before falling to PC 63-55.

Panther Creek opened the tournament with a 65-63 win against host Southern Durham.

Green Hope avoided playing fellow Tri-Nine teams - though Cary and Lee County played one another in the same tournament.

The Falcons' road to the title game included a 64-36 defeat of Union Pines and a 64-42 win against East Chapel Hill.

In the tournament final against Hoke County, a last-second shot by junior John Mosser lifted the Falcons to a 59-58 victory.

Also in the Yellow Jacket Invitational, Cary finished fifth after handing a 44-35 defeat to Tri-Nine foe Lee County on the tournament's final day.

Cary fell to East Chapel Hill 67-50 in the tournament-opener, but regrouped to defeat Union Pines 68-63 in the consolation semifinals.

Only two Tri-Nine boys teams chose not to play in either of these tournaments or the 40th annual Holiday Invitational at Broughton.

Fuquay-Varina was one of them, and the Bengals went 0-3 at the Holiday in the Pines boys basketball tournament hosted by Pinecrest High in Southern Pines.

Fuquay ran its losing streak up to 11 consecutive games, falling 61-59 to Durham Hillside, 56-52 to Spring Lake Overhills and 55-43 to West Bladen.

Athens Drive was the only Tri-Nine boys basketball team to not participate in any holiday tournament.