Youngsters lead Chargers past Falcons

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 1, 2014 11:13 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Wayne Country Day varsity girls head coach CC Archer continues to see daily improvement in practice.

He particularly likes the current three-game win streak the Chargers have produced on the court, too.

Bailee Creger pumped in a game-high 12 points during a 31-15 triumph over Coastal Plains Independent 1-A/2-A Conference foe Epiphany on Saturday afternoon. The lone senior in uniform, Creger also provided seven rebounds, three steals and one assists.

Eighth-grader Lillian Freeman just missed a double-double with eight points and 12 rebounds. The 5-foot-9 forward blocked two shots for WCDS (5-14 overall), which reached the .500 mark (4-4) in conference play.

"We've come a very long ways from the beginning (of the season)," Archer said. "Starting out, we were just grabbing rebounds, running up and down the court, turning it over. Now, we're executing plays."

The Chargers showed their first-year coach they can win without two key seniors -- Karis Hawkins and Meredith Roethling. Hawkins missed the game due to an interview at Brown University. Roethling is sidelined for the rest of the season with torn tendons in her left ankle.

Archer had just six players dressed for the game.

"They played well," Archer said. "I'm proud of my eighth-graders (Freeman and Kaitlyn Daniels). Maggie (O'Daniel), this is her first year of playing point guard. I'm estactic with the way she is controlling this team and being my floor general."

Daniels collected nine rebounds, blocked two shots and picked the Falcons for five steals. O'Daniel dished out three assists and pulled down five rebounds.

WCDS swept the regular-season series from Epiphany, which remained winless in seven CPIC outings this season.

The Chargers scored eight points in each of the first three periods and seven in the fourth. The Falcons (0-17) managed to convert just four field goals during the first 24 minutes of play.

Carla Ferrol led Epiphany with eight points.

Archer said he was thankful of his team's rebounding effort, which compensated for a substandard 6 of 24 effort at the free throw line. WCDS scored 10 points on offensive putbacks.

"The rebounding helped us stretch that lead out and separate us from being close, and (not) letting those free throws be a factor," Archer said.