CARY - With the private-school bragging rights of Cary in the balance, the respective varsity games between Cary Academy and Cary Christian's boys and girls basketball teams on Tuesday night played out much differently from one another.

But in both halves of the doubleheader, host Cary Academy walked away with the victory.

In the girls game, a layup from Rebekah Banks with 11.5 seconds left gave the Lady Chargers a 59-57 win, while the boys cruised through most of their 55-43 win against the Knights.

The girls contest went back-and-forth for most of the night, with Cary Christian holding a 44-41 edge heading into the final period after trailing 30-28 at halftime.

But in the fourth quarter, Cary Academy started to get much-needed stops by trapping the Lady Knights in half-court.

The Lady Chargers (13-4) were down six with 90 seconds to play, but two straight 3-point attempts by junior forward Mickayla Sanders -- she made one 3-pointer and was fouled while shooting another -- resulted in six quick points to tie the game.

On Cary Academy's final possession, Sanders received an inbounds pass and looked as though she might pull up for another shot, but lobbed a pass to Banks after three Cary Christian defenders stepped towards Sanders.

"The play was to set a double screen for Mickayla to come around. She wasn't open, so she made the right choice and got the ball to (Banks)," CA coach Danielle Harber said. "They beat us two years ago and last year we didn't play them... They're great to play against and it's great to have bragging rights."

Cary Christian (7-4) nearly sent the game into overtime, but Jenna Ellis' would-be tying shot was more than a full second after time expired.

Banks finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds, while Sanders posted 24 points and eight boards. The Chargers' Brianna Powell added 14 points, eight rebounds and five steals.

The Lady Knights' Caitlyn Cannon scored a season-high 21 points in the losing effort. Senior forward Dakota Dukes, a Davidson recruit, had 12 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals, while center Amy Van Deventer added 17 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out with 3:42 left in the fourth.

Chargers boys basketball coach Kenny Inge started bringing in his 10th and 11th players off the bench early in the fourth quarter, a sure sign that all was well with Cary Academy. But a 25-point lead was chipped into bit by bit by the Knights, causing the Chargers to put most of its starters back on the floor with a minute left to better preserve what was left of the mostly comfortable win.

Cary Academy (6-9) controlled the boards, using its height advantage to out-rebound Cary Christian 38-18.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Inge said. "They're coming together more as a team... We've got guys stepping up at times, and every game it's someone else."

The Chargers had eight different players score points, with point guard John Guerra leading the way with 16. Guerra added nine rebounds and six assists.

"He's doing a great job of adjusting (to the starting role)," Inge said. "He learned a lot (last year) and he's better for it."

Cary Christian (3-13) was without 6-foot-2 forward Chris Thomas, who was averaging 23.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. The Knights were led in scoring by Nick Smith with 10 points.

Both Chargers teams will begin 3A conference action in the Triangle Independent Schools Athletic Association on Jan. 20. Cary Christian has only Eastern Plains Independent 2A Conference games remaining on its schedule.