Chargers roll over Patriots in CPIC

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on January 26, 2011 1:47 PM

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Wayne Country Day head coach Terry Jones didn't have to say much to his players after their last game about the importance of playing with intensity for four quarters.

The Chargers rallied from a 26-point deficit in the fourth quarter only to fall short in a 67-54 loss to Upper Room last week.

Consider the point well taken.

Wayne Country Day played with energy from start to finish in an 81-48 rout of Coastal Plains Independent 1-A Conference rival Faith Christian of Rocky Mount on Tuesday night.

The Chargers jumped out to a 15-2 lead in the first quarter behind four 3-pointers from Hil Tanner. Tanner finished with 19 points, 17 of which came in the first half.

"After the last game we had I think it was all self-explanatory to the guys," said Jones. "They really a came out with a spark of intensity. Sometimes being a shooter you go through spurts and tonight was one of those nights for Hil. Our seniors and leaders recognized that and took a back seat for a minute.

"We rode the wave and Hil carried us."

Wayne Country Day closed the second quarter on an 11-2 run and led 45-24 at the half.

The Patriots opened the third quarter by beating the Chargers to loose balls and winning the rebounding battle. The result was a 12-1 run that trimmed the margin to 46-36 with fewer than five minutes left in the third quarter.

Wayne Country Day responded by outscoring Faith Christian 35-12 over the final 121/2 minutes of the game.

"We played at a pretty high level in the first half," said Jones. "We had a pretty decent lead going into halftime. Basketball, at no matter what age, you often settle at times. We went through a few minutes of that and we finally got it back together."

The Chargers had a balanced night offensively with three players joining Tanner in double figures. Josh Gregory scored a team-high 22 points and Tyson Pearson contributed 14 points. Brandon McCarter added 12 points.

"One thing we're looking to do is try to deepen our rotation a little bit," said Jones. "We tweaked a thing here or there believing it was going to make us better and I believe we found the answers we were looking for."

Barton Parker scored a game-high 27 points for the Patriots.

Wayne Country Day (11-5 overall, 1-0 CPIC) entertains the Oakwood boys' team tonight.