Cape Fear downs Wayne Christian

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on January 27, 2009 1:46 PM

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Wayne Christian stood toe-to-toe with Class 1-A Carolina Christian Conference rival Cape Fear Christian for three quarters, but the visitors were too strong in the end on Monday night.

Cape Fear won the game 53-46 on the strength of an solid rebounding effort and some timely second half shooting inside Clifford Gymnatorium.

"I thought our guys finished strong in Friday night's game," said Wayne Christian head coach Franklin Brathwaite. "Tonight we played pretty well overall, but Cape Fear picked up a rebound when they needed it and they got to more loose balls than we did."

The first quarter belonged to Taylor Johnson, who scored all of Wayne Christian's 10 points.

"We told Taylor coming into the year that this offense was designed to take advantage of his shooting ability," said Brathwaite. "When he is shooting well from the outside it really opens up the floor for some of our inside guys."

Cape Fear senior LaQuan McCoy, however, stole the show from Taylor.

The flashy guard poured in eight points in the second quarter and dominated the offensive glass. Cape Fear increased its lead to 26-21 at the intermission.

"McCoy is a great player, and tonight he played within his game," said Brathwaite. "He didn't get frustrated and he made the moves underneath to get his teammates open looks."

The second half featured runs by each team. Cape Fear increased its lead to as many as 11 points and Wayne Christian pulled as close as three.

After a McCoy basket extended the visitors' lead to 46-40 with 3:20 left in the game, Luke Howell earned a pair of free throws. The Eagles' forward made both shots and ignited the home bench.

"Luke is a guy that always gives us 110 percent," said Brathwaite. "In the fourth quarter he made a couple big shots, but we just couldn't get that big basket to get any closer."

Cape Fear (10-5 overall, 8-1 CCC) finished the game by making seven of eight free throws in the final 90 seconds. Mark Williamson hit four consecutive shots from the charity stripe and was followed by two foul shots by Chad Turlington. McCoy scored the team's final point.

McCoy finished with 23 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Williamson and Blake Parrish each finished with seven points. Nick Koloski pulled down nine rebounds.

Wayne Christian (6-9, 5-6) was paced by Johnson and Howell, who each contributed 15 points. Colton Woods added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Eagles entertain Greenville Christian tonight at 7:30 p.m.