Eagle varisties claim CCC twinbill

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on January 16, 2008 1:47 PM

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With his focus fixed squarely on the Class 1-A Carolina Christian Conference tournament, Wayne Christian boys basketball coach Tim Brannan has all but thrown his club's record out the window.

He's even gone as far as not keeping track of where the Eagles stand among their CCC opposition. Despite trudging through the first half, Wayne Christian appeared to be near tournament form after halftime in a 69-53 home victory over conference foe Community Christian on Tuesday.

"We're playing with everybody and we're starting to play better basketball as a team," Brannan said. "We're far better than we were early in the season. We've shown we can play with any team in our conference. Now what we need to do is put it all together and be ready for that conference tournament."

Wayne Christian's girls scored more points in the first quarter (16), than they allowed the entire game in 55-7 romp over the Cyclones.

Brannan employed a number of different presses and defenses in the first half, but a scrappy Community squad and the Eagles' failure to maintain their defensive intensity allowed the Cyclones to rally for a 14-11 lead after one quarter.

Wayne Christian big man Eric Williams took over in the second quarter, scoring 10 of his 13 first half points. His free throw with just over 4 1/2 minutes left in the period tied the game at 16-16, and his dunk later put the Eagles (5-8 overall, 2-5 CCC) in front 22-20. Baskets by Daniel Mercer and Matthew Barnette kept Community within reach as it trailed 26-24 at the half.

The Cyclones continued to hang around until Wayne Christian went on a 14-4 run midway through the third quarter that all but put the game away. After Edward Holmes pulled Community to within three at 32-29, Matt Davis' 3-pointer ignited the Eagles' offense. Justin Braithwaite's layup to end the quarter left the Cyclones looking at a 46-33 deficit.

"In the second half I thought we came out and executed better," Brannan said. "We came out and tried some different things tonight, too, and sometimes they went well and sometimes they didn't go well. In the second half we sort of stuck to our zone. We were able to put pressure on the ball and make it harder for them outside and inside."

Community managed to get the lead down to 10 with less than four minutes remaining, but Shea Gleasman's layup and Williams' conventional 3-point play quickly dashed any comeback hopes. Williams scored a game-high 22 points. Davis had 18, while Gleasman chipped in nine and Adam Brannan had eight.

A pair of 8-0 first-quarter runs, a 30-5 halftime lead and four quarters of non-stop layup drills translated into perhaps the easiest victory Wayne Christian's girls will encounter all season. Community went scoreless for more than five minutes to close the first half and didn't record a point in the fourth quarter.

"I just thought we did everything right," Eagles head coach Lee Price said. "We played defense well and we ran our offensive sets just like we needed to. We just have to take this and work on a few things we did wrong."

Hanna Kaler led the Eagles ( 7-5, 3-2 CCC) with 22 points. Brittany Sullivan had 12 and Jennifer Price added seven.

Wayne Christian visits Faith Christian of Rocky Mount on Friday.

Boys game

Community Christian 14 10 9 20 -- 53

Wayne Christian 11 15 20 23 -- 69

COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN

Caleb Varnell 2 0 7-10 11, Matthew Barnette 3 0 3-4 9, Edward Holmes 5 0 0-0 10, Josh Burt 2 0 2-3 6, Diamond Steele 0 1 0-0 3, Aaron Ocumpo 0 1 1-2 4, Jordan Lillies 1 2 0-0 8, Daniel Mercer 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 14 4 13-20 53.

WAYNE CHRISTIAN (5-8, 2-5 CCC)

Eric Williams 9 0 4-5 22, Adam Brannan 2 0 4-6 8, Matt Davis 5 1 5-8 18, Shea Gleasman 3 0 3-4 9, Colton Wood 2 0 1-3 5, Justin Braithwaite 2 0 0-0 4, Ryan Clarke 2 0 1-4 3. TOTALS -- 24 1 18-30 69.

Girls game

Community Christian 3 2 2 0 -- 7

Wayne Christian 16 14 12 7 -- 55

COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN

Jessica Daley 0 1 0-0 3, Auburn Smith 2 0-0 4. TOTALS -- 2 1 0-0 7.

WAYNE CHRISTIAN (7-5, 3-2 CCC)

Brittany Sullivan 6 0 0-0 12, Jennifer Price 3 0 1-4 7, Hanna Kaler 10 0 2-4 22, Hope Wright 1 0 0-0 2, Kaitlyn Kosuda 2 0 1-3 5, Charity Wright 1 0 0-0 2, Kayla Kennedy 0 1 0-0 3, Devan Isenhower 2 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 24 1 4-12 55.