Chargers rally past Cresset
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on February 24, 2010 1:46 PM
Wayne Country Day weathered an early storm and raced past Cresset Christian 62-54 in the opening round of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A boys' basketball playoffs on Tuesday evening.
The Chargers started slow due to some costly turnovers and a wide rebounding margin.
After gaining a 16-12 advantage at the end of the first quarter, Wayne Country Day lapsed defensively and allowed the Eagles to erase the deficit and rally for a two-point halftime lead.
Cresset Christian held a 21-11 rebounding advantage at the break.
"I thought we turned it over too many times on our end," said Chargers head coach Terry Jones. "We did not shoot the ball particularly well, either, and that hurt us early."
Wayne Country Day (22-10 overall) opened the second half with renewed vigor and tallied the first three field goals of the period. Senior forward Tim Hobbs made back-to-back layups and began to assert himself as a defensive presence in the Chargers' full-court zone defense.
Cresset Christian cut the Chargers six-point lead to 51-48 midway through the fourth period on Chris Brooks' three-point play. That was as close as the Eagles would ever come to pulling the upset.
"At that point in the game you need to put the game away on defense," said Jones. "I thought we would do that for a minute, and then back off, but overall our defense was pretty solid."
Hobbs paced the Chargers with 19 points and eight rebounds. Reco McCarter added 13 points and six boards. Rashid Williams and Josh Gregory each added 10 points.
Ronnie Winston led the Eagles with 17 points and 15 rebounds.
Wayne Country Day faces Flora MacDonald Academy in quarterfinal-round action Thursday at Forsyth Country Day in Winston-Salem. The Cougars swept the regular-season series.
"The good thing about it is that we have film of them and we know what they like to do," said Jones. "We know that we need to control the tempo, and not turn the game into an up-and-down (the court) matchup."