Chargers claim Falcon Invitational crown

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on November 25, 2007 2:02 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- Head coach Terry Jones has visions of success for Wayne Country Day in February, but he certainly won't pass up a few early-season accomplishments in November.

Behind 21 points from Floronta Wynn and 15 from Reco McCarter, the Chargers downed Western Harnett 65-54 in the finals of the Falcon Invitational at Charles B. Aycock High School on Saturday night.

"This means a lot," Jones said of winning the title. "We kind of stepped out of our box and kind of took on some county foes as well as Western Harnett, who is a quality team. The guys pulled together. It was a big fight for us, but they performed. They did well."

Wynn and McCarter combined for 22 second-half points, including a crowd-pleasing dunk from McCarter, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Wynn was also named to the all-tournament team.

"They did well," Jones said of his two leading scorers. "Of course, we have a lot of new faces, and we're trying to put everybody together and mend everybody together. (Wynn and McCarter) took over some leadership, as well as Cameron Strickland, who played big tonight.

"Jeff Franklin also came up big. Those guys, being the elders, took on a lot of leadership."

Tymel Campbell's jumper pulled the Eagles to within three at 37-34 late in the third quarter. Western Harnett wouldn't get any closer. The Chargers closed the quarter on a 10-6 run and led 47-40 heading into the fourth.

Any idea the Eagles had of a comeback over the final eight minutes was made virtually impossible by Wayne Country Day's rebounding and consistency on offense. Only once during the fourth quarter did Western Harnett score consecutive baskets. The Chargers held an 11-6 rebounding advantage in the final period.

"They held their composure," Jones said. "We showed a lot of maturity tonight. We call a lot of things as we see them, and they initiated everything they called on the court. We give kudos to them, they did a great job."

Harnett held a 17-16 lead after the first quarter, but Wayne Country Day closed the second quarter on a 7-0 run and took a 32-24 lead into halftime.

While the Chargers still have plenty of basketball still to play, including their entire conference schedule. Jones has little to complain about with what he's seen from his squad thus far.

"We still have a long way to go. We realize that," Jones said. "We don't plan on just doing things in this local area, but we want to do some big things this year. It's going to take to a lot. We really don't play for the day, we play for the future.

"We want to be doing great things in February, and not really right now in November, but at the same time it won't hurt to have a little of both worlds."

Wayne Country Day visits Trinity of Fayetteville on Tuesday.

Wayne Country Day 16 16 15 18 -- 65

Western Harnett 17 7 15 14 -- 54

WAYNE COUNTRY DAY (4-0)

Cameron Strickland 0 2 1-4 7; Floronta Wynn 7 0 7-9 21; Jeff Franklin 2 1 1-2 8; Josh Gregory 3 1 3-6 12; Reco McCarter 6 0 3-9 15; Vaughn Eason 1 0-1 3. TOTALS -- 19 4 15-27 65.

WESTERN HARNETT

Elliot McNeil 5 0 0-0 10; Ben Bursey 0 1 0-0 3; Tymel Campbell 4 0 2-2 10; Corey McKie 2 0 0-0 4; Markus Rayum 3 1 0-0 9; William Marsh 4 0 2-4 10; Darren McNeil 2 0 0-0 4; Jared Bohn 0 1 1-2 4. TOTALS -- 20 3 5-8 54.