Greenfield rolls past WCDS boys
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on February 14, 2010 1:51 AM
WILSON -- Revenge was served really cold.
As snow fell outside, Greenfield started red-hot offensively and rolled over Wayne Country Day 79-60 on Friday evening. The long-time archrivals finished tied for the Coastal Plains Independent 1-A Conference regular-season title.
The Chargers overcame an 18-point deficit in the team's first meeting as they pulled out a thrilling victory.
This time the Knights sent a message.
"We felt like we let one slip away at their place and tonight was our senior night," said Greenfield head coach Rob Salter. "Our guys came out with something to prove and played with a chip on their shoulders."
It wasn't all wine and roses for the Knights, who were assessed a technical foul before the game even started for dunking in warm-ups. They missed a defensive assignment on the game's opening possession that led to a quick 4-0 WCDS lead.
That's when the Knights took over behind hot shooting from University of South Carolina signee Brian Richardson and powerful forward Sam Hughes.
Early foul trouble for Virginia Commonwealth signee Reco McCarter did not help the Chargers' cause.
"Part of being into the game is both knowing the opponent and knowing how the game is being officiated," said Wayne Country Day head coach Terry Jones said. "I'm not going to say it was good or bad, because it was consistent both ways and that is all you can ask for."
Greenfield led 38-28 at the intermission.
Jarred Hinton broke out of a recent shooting slump in the second half 13 points including two deep 3-pointers that were part of an 11-2 run that extended the Knights lead to 23 points.
Josh Gregory caught fire for the Chargers in the fourth quarter with 10 points, but it was not enough to get the Chargers back into contention.
"In a game with a lot on the line and a lot of emotion, it is disappointing to not come out with our best effort," said Jones. "We were buying time until the second half and by then it was too late."
Gregory paced the Chargers with 19 points. Tim Hobbs added 14 points and eight rebounds in the defeat. McCarter tallied 13 points and seven boards.
Richardson and Hughes scored 16 points apiece for the Knights.
The CPIC tournament is scheduled to begin Monday.