W.Country Day falls to Freedom Christian boys

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on January 12, 2013 11:55 PM

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Freedom Christian did not lead a single second of regulation play on Friday night.

The Patriots managed to win anyway.

Lee Baggett tied the game with the a free throw in the final seconds of the fourth quarter and Freedom outlasted Wayne Country Day 79-72 in overtime in Coastal Plains Independent 1-A Conference play.

The loss spoiled the festivities honoring Charger head coach Terry Jones, who earned his 100th career win during the holiday break.

"Tonight was a tough pill to swallow," Jones said. "I thought my guys played hard and I was pleased with the effort, but down the stretch we just failed to make a few key plays that could have turned the game in our favor."

Deshar Thomas tried to make sure that the Chargers would get Jones his 101st win in the first quarter. The talented guard poured in 12 points in the period and pushed Wayne Country Day out to a 21-16 lead.

The Chargers' lead grew to 44-36 at the intermission and everything seemed to be falling into place.

The Patriots had other plans in the second half as they began to assert themselves in the lane and consistently drove to basket for easy bucket and forced the Chargers to commit fouls.

"Everything we do has to start with defense," Jones said. "We get a lot of easy buckets by creating turnovers and playing good defense, and in the second half we didn't create enough of those opportunities."

The Chargers held a 67-63 lead with less than minutes to play in the game, but were rendered short-handed when Thomas fouled out. Cory Bazier made one free throw and Freedom pulled to within one point when Sabir Rashid hit a layup with 90 seconds to play.

Following a Wayne Country Day turnover, Baggett stepped to the line with a chance to put his team in front, but managed to tie the score at 67-67 with one successful free throw.

Neither team got a good look at the basket on its final possession before the clock ran out and ushered-in overtime.

Freedom dominated the extra period and pulled away for the road win. Jaylor Bullard led the Patriots with 21 points. Baggett added 17 points and eight rebounds.

Thomas paced Wayne Country Day with 25 points. Joel Davis added 18 points and 12 rebounds. Lee Atkinson contributed 15 points and took five charges on the defensive end.

Wayne Country Day (9-4 overall, 1-1 CPIC) plays host to Oakwood on Tuesday.