Basketball Recap: Mark Dougherty's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Cary Christian over South Wake

Cary Christian was the 67-49 winner over South Wake when they last played one another back in January, but their luck changed this time around. The Knights fell 67-63 to the Sabres on Monday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Monday (59), the Knights still had to take the loss.

Mark Dougherty

Field Goal Percentage

12/01/25 vs South Wake	60%
11/24/25 vs New Life Camp	67%
11/20/25 @ Thales Academy Apex	67%
11/17/25 vs Oak Forest	75%

Several Knights players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Mark Dougherty, who shot 60% from the field to rack up 16 points in addition to five boards and three steals. Dougherty has also been stellar as far as field goal percentage is concerned: he's posted one of at least 60% every time he's hit the court this season. Another player making a difference was Elijah Holmes, who posted 17 points along with eight steals and five rebounds.

South Wake found their leader in sophomore Nathan Heiliger, who went 6-for-13 en route to 19 points in addition to seven steals and six assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Heiliger has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Thomas Williams, who had 15 points.

This is the second loss in a row for Cary Christian and nudges their season record down to 2-2. Admittedly, the team was facing some tough opposition over that stretch, including 5-0 New Life Camp (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 85.7% over those games). As for South Wake, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-2.

Cary Christian wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next matchup, a 63-62 victory against Arendell Parrott Academy on the 2nd. As for South Wake, they will welcome New Life Camp at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday. The contest will give the Sabres their first taste of in-conference action this season.