Greenfield rolls past Wayne Country Day

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 13, 2011 1:51 AM

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Turnabout is fair play.

Almost.

Unlike seven days ago, Greenfield maintained its early-game intensity and rolled past Wayne Country Day, 79-48, in the Coastal Plains Independent 1-A finale for both boys' basketball teams Friday evening.

The No. 3-ranked Knights (18-8 overall, 6-0 CPIC) secured their 10th CPIC regular-season championship, and seventh outright in the past 11 years. They seized the No. 1 seed for next week's conference tournament, which will be played at WCDS.

Sam Hughes and Jordan Sharpe led five Greenfield players in double figures with 19 points apiece. DeAndre Alston chipped in 14. Logan Sneed and Aaron Rountree pumped in 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Wayne Country Day senior Josh Gregory pumped in a game-high 27 points before a standing-room-only crowd. Junior guard Hil Tanner added nine points from behind the 3-point arc, and senior forward Tyson Pearson added five.

In their previous meeting, the Chargers raced to a double-digit lead over the Knights in the opening quarter. Greenfield returned the favor with an 8-0 run of its own on consecutive 3-pointers from Alston and a layup by Hughes.

"They were hitting on all cylinders, were at their highest performance and we were at our lowest," said WCDS head coach Terry Jones. "We had a great practice yesterday (Thursday) and I really thought we were prepared. We honestly did not come out with the effort, the attention to detail in order to execute in a big-time game like this."

Greenfield led 18-10 early in the second period before Tanner buried an NBA-range 3-pointer off Brandon McCarter's assist. The Knights scored 15 of the next 20 points for a 30-18 advantage.

Hughes threw down a two-handed slam off a turnover, but drew a technical for hanging on the rim. While one referee reported the infraction, a second referee assessed another technical to the Greenfield bench for arguing the call.

Gregory drained all four free throws, but the Chargers (13-8, 4-2) misfired on their two technical possessions. The Knights led 32-22 at halftime.

Greenfield opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run until Pearson hit a runner in the lane. Wayne Country Day climbed within 47-38 on Tanner's 3-pointer and Pearson's coast-to-coast layup after grabbing a defensive rebound off a Hughes miss inside.

"We got hot a little bit on the offensive end," said Jones.

The Knights answered with a back-breaking, 10-0 run.

"On the defensive end, we weren't committed to the details, giving the full effort ... just totally undisciplined tonight," said Jones.

Greenfield started the fourth quarter with a 15-0 run and claimed the regular-season series over its archrival.