East Wake Academy-Wayne Country Day girls

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on February 2, 2012 1:48 PM

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To whom much is given, much is required.

That message will last with Wayne Country Day's girls' basketball team much longer than the memories from Wednesday night's 53-36 win over visiting East Wake Academy.

Chargers' head coach Eric Perry made a loud statement to his team by forcing his usual five starters to watch the first 41/2 minutes of the ball game from the bench. After being less than pleased with their performance in Tuesday night's 58-49 loss to Coastal Plains Independent 1-A Conference leader Oakwood, Perry elected to make a change.

Wayne Country Day started a lineup of two sophomores, two eighth-graders and a seventh-grader on Wednesday. The result was seven turnovers in seven possessions, an 11-0 deficit and a hard-earned lesson along the way.

Perry inserted his starters with 31/2 minutes left in the first quarter and they quickly cut the margin to 15-13 after the opening eight minutes.

"My starters didn't represent the jersey last night," Perry said. "Sarah Best, Catherine Ford and Mack Thompson didn't represent the brand they've helped develop since I've been here. We can't have that going forward. They responded well and that's the way we need to play."

The Chargers (9-6 overall) used relentless ball pressure to force turnovers which led to easy transition baskets. After trailing 11-0, Wayne Country Day outscored the Eagles 30-9 and led 30-20 at halftime. Ford scored 13 of her game-high 22 points in the first half.

East Wake committed 15 turnovers during the first two quarters.

"They played with a sense of urgency," Perry said. "Our defense is our best offense. When you're a small team you always need to play that way. I think we're hopefully going to see a different team moving forward."

Ford's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter extended the margin to 44-32. Thompson's three-point play helped put the game away late. Thompson contributed 13 points and Best had 10. Hannah Pearson added eight points and Ford pulled down six rebounds.

Kirsty Seller led East Wake Academy with 18 points.

The Chargers entertain Faith Christian-Rocky Mount on Feb. 7.