APEX — Middle Creek's Lesley and Lauren Woods didn't play a second of the fourth quarter Thursday night against Cary, but only because the outcome of the game had long since been determined.

Lady Mustangs coach Wes Petty sat his twin sophomore stars, who had already combined for 34 points, for the final quarter as Middle Creek cruised to an 87-42 win over the Lady Imps.

"This was by far the best game we've played," Petty said. "We've played a tough schedule so far, and it's been a roller-coaster ride for us. This should be a big lift. Everything was really clicking for us. We played with a lot of heart and effort."

The Lady Mustangs scored the first eight points of the game and took a 26-7 advantage into the second quarter mostly behind superb outside shooting by the Woods twins. Lauren was 3-for-3 behind the arc in the first quarter alone.

She finished 4-for-4 from 3-point land, despite missing the entire second quarter after banging her head on the floor following a made three in which she was fouled, to combine with her sister to shoot a perfect 6-for-6 for the game. Leslie led all scorers with 22.

"They shot the ball really well," Cary coach Donald Kent said.

For Lauren, the perfect night from downtown was a bounce-back performance from her last outing. She was held scoreless by Apex earlier in the week, missing on all five of her attempts behind the 3-point line.

"This was a big confidence booster for me," she said. "Going 4-for-4 from behind the line was great after the way the last game went."

Middle Creek added three points to its lead in the second quarter to take a 46-24 lead into halftime and showed no signs of letting up in the third. The Lady Mustangs outscored the Lady Imps 26-9 in the frame and saw a third major contributor step up.

Junior Kristine Rishel made the most of her time off the bench, scoring 17 points while grabbing a game-high seven rebounds in the process.

"Kristine really got after it," Petty said. "She had a couple of tough games before this one, but she played the type of game she's capable of (Thursday). She was hustling all night and took advantage of her opportunities. She was active on the boards as well. If the ball was coming off the glass it was hers."

Even with Petty mixing in most of his reserves in the fourth quarter, Middle Creek pushed its lead to 45 and held the ball for nearly the entire final minute. There was no denying how well the Lady Mustangs played offensively, but Petty was just as pleased with his team's effort on the defensive end.

"Our defense allowed us to get up on them quick," he said. "And even when they made a run early we were able to keep the pressure on them and pull away."

From the tip-off they disrupted Cary's offense with full-court pressure, which led to some easy baskets including some open looks behind the arc. The defensive message was certainly not lost on the players.

"We played well on defense and forced a lot of turnovers," Lesley Woods said. "And our help defense was good tonight too. We really wanted to come out and play tough defensively to set up our offense. "A game like this gives us a big confidence boost."