WCDS rallies in third

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on February 22, 2012 1:48 PM

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Wayne Country Day used a late third quarter run to put away pesky Trinity Academy of Raleigh, 61-50, in the opening round of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A girls' basketball playoffs on Tuesday night.

The sixth-seeded Chargers (14-6 overall) face third-seeded Durham Cresset Christian (23-5) in quarterfinal-round play Thursday at North Raleigh Christian. Tip-off is 4 p.m.

"The playoffs are all about surviving the round and advancing to the next round," Wayne Country Day head coach Eric Perry said. "Tonight we got back into some old bad habits that I thought we had put behind us over the last several games, but in the end we got the win."

Wayne Country Day opened the game red hot from the field and grabbed a 17-11 advantage after one period. Catherine Ford scored 10 points during that stretch and finished with 16 in the first half as the Chargers built a double-digit lead before the intermission.

Not wanting to be put away early, the Tigers rallied in the third quarter. Down 45-31, Trinity forward Kim Hinton hit three consecutive baskets and cut the Chargers' lead to eight points.

Ford answered with a pair of baskets of her own and Sarah Best added a layup in the final minute to push the Wayne Country Day lead back to 14 points, 51-37, after the third quarter.

Trinity pulled within eight points in the final quarter, but could get no closer. Hinton finished with 21 points and eight rebounds.

"I think that Trinity's size underneath really bothered us," Perry said. "But we were able to keep attacking and that led to some open looks for Catherine and Sarah."

Ford paced the Wayne Country Day offense with 29 points and seven rebounds. Best added 14 points and seven boards.