Chapel Hill boy’s basketball coach Tod Morgan has come to expect great performances from his senior Anthony Vanhook.

And on Friday night against J.F. Webb who was previously unbeaten in conference play, Vanhook did not disappoint. He scored 13 points, hauled in seven rebounds, handed out four assists and notched four steals – one of which sealed the Tigers' 55-52 win.

Trailing by three points in the final minute, Webb’s Mitron Terry drove down the right side of the lane only to be met by Vanhook’s sweeping right hand.

“That was huge,” Chapel Hill coach Tod Morgan said. “That steal and pitch ahead to Elliot (Orenstein) and a great lay-up finish. That was a big play. In big games, big time players step up in big games and I think Anthony did that tonight.”

After the steal, the senior wingman hit Orenstein in transition for a wide open lay-up. That play put the Tigers up by five with less than 50 seconds remaining. Webb closed the gap as big man Isaiah Hicks hit a late three, but the Tigers sealed the win at the free throw line.

Hicks had a dominating performance in the loss. He finished the night with a game-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds, three key assists and six blocks.

“He’s a beast,” Morgan said. “I’m a Carolina graduate and alumni, and I look forward to seeing him in that Tar Heel uniform next year but it’s not a lot of fun seeing him in that Webb uniform right now because he’s such a good player inside-out.”

Chapel Hill jumped out to a hot start and led by 8-2 early in the first quarter. The Tigers ended the first period with 20 points and a six point lead. But that hot start soon cooled and the Warriors made their way back into the game by holding Chapel Hill to just eight points in both the second and third quarters.

“We had a good game plan, I felt like our kids believed in it,” Morgan said about the quick start.

“I felt like were ready. It was good to see us get that quick start because then, all that preparation and planning came to fruition. The only thing I worried was that the pace may have been too good. We get 20 points in the first quarter and we love that and we had the lead but that’s playing at a higher pace than I wanted to play.”

The Tigers slowed down in the next two quarters and Webb took its first lead of the game early in the second half as Stephan Cates made a 3-pointer off of an assist from Hicks. That tied the score at 30 and was a part of the 11-2 run the Warriors put together to start the half.

“I think there’s a lot of emotion.” Webb coach Leo Brunelli said about how his team clawed back into the game. “We were over extending things and that’s part of it. These are all the tests that we’ve got to be able to handle…They’re not going to ever stop fighting.”

It was Vanhook that took the lead back for the Tigers about midway through the final quarter. He made a nifty reverse lay-up on an assist from Brian Thorton to put Chapel Hill up 48-46 and the Tigers never trailed again. Thorton was the leading scorer for CHHS with 14.

The win for the Tigers draws them even with the Warriors in the Carolina 3A conference as both teams are now 18-4 and 7-1 in conference play.