WCDS takes down Harells Academy

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 14, 2010 1:47 PM

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Was it the pre-game dive across the floor?

Or the backdoor cut?

Perhaps both scenarios provided a little motivation for Wayne Country Day on Monday evening. And once the Chargers grabbed the lead, they romped to a 75-60, non-conference victory which wasn't as close as the final score might indicate.

Senior Tyson Pearson pumped in a season-high 28 points and snared 10 rebounds, while Brandon McCarter added a double-double -- 17 points, 14 rebounds -- in the Chargers' seventh win of the season. Josh Gregory chipped in 22 points.

Junior guard Hil Tanner turned in a solid floor game -- team-leading six assists, seven rebounds and four points.

The horn sounded to clear the floor before tip-off and Wayne Country Day's players headed to the bench to remove their shooting jerseys. Harrells' players remained on the floor, did a couple of foot drills and then dived toward center court.

"The guys took it personal from the beginning after the show that was put on during the pre-game," said WCDS head coach Terry Jones. "I love the leadership that Josh Gregory showed. He pulled everybody together said 'we don't let that happen on our home court.'"

The Chargers missed their first field goal attempt.

The Crusaders (2-2 overall) answered on Matt Maready's backdoor layup off Josh Teachy's assist.

Then WCDS brought the pressure, forced six turnovers on Harrells' next seven possessions after Maready's basket, and led 10-2 with 4:47 left in the opening quarter. The Chargers stretched the advantage to 27-9 and steadily pulled away the remainder of the game.

McCarter and Pearson combined for 21 first-quarter points. Pearson has scored 52 points in his last two outings.

"Tyson is kind of like one of those old-school Detroit Piston players," smiled Jones. "He's not going to bring any flash, but he does all the dirty work and before you know it, he's put up nearly 30 (points) on you and you're totally unaware of it.

"He's a critical, pivotal part of this team. He brings so much fight, so much tenacity to the court and really makes us better."

The Chargers (7-2) grabbed their biggest lead, 62-32, with 1:34 left in the third quarter. Jones flirted with different playing combinations from that point and Harrells found some mismatches to cut into the deficit.