McClain makes statement, but Chargers rout county rival

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on January 7, 2015 1:48 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

Whether it was personal or just good competition against a former teammate, someone from Wayne Country Day's basketball team had to guard Ty McClain.

The former Charger, who transferred to Wayne Christian after last season, seemed extra driven to show his former teammates what they were missing without him.

McClain got his points -- 36 of them in fact -- despite being hounded by the Chargers' defense and forced into tough looks for much of the evening.

"It was a little personal," guard Jamal Forde said of trying to stop McClain. "But we were just being competitive trying to get a W."

Unfortunately for Wayne Christian, McClain was the only scoring threat it could find Tuesday. The rest of the Eagles combined for just 14 points in a 96-50 loss to Wayne Country Day.

After a first quarter that featured good ball movement and stifling defense, the Chargers came out flat in the second quarter. That allowed McClain to go off for 20 points and keep the Eagles in the game.

WCDS coach David Flowers made sure that trend would not continue.

"We flatlined in that second quarter," Flowers said. "So we challenged the guys who were guarding to step up and try to make things difficult for him, and do a better job moving their feet, and I don't know what he had in the second half, but I think they did a better job."

A renewed defensive effort and a rim-rattling alley-oop thrown from half court from Kris Cooley to Joel Davis just before halftime set the tone for the rest of the Chargers, who extended the lead from there.

"I think we could tell we were flat and that was important because it gave us a lot of energy and I think the guys fed off that," Davis said. "It felt good."

Davis finished with a quiet 27 points. Some of the senior's best plays came when he got the ball in the lane against the Eagles zone and dished the ball to his teammates for an open 3 as the defense was collapsing on him.

"That's the kind of player that he is," Flowers said of Davis. "He's good, but he makes everyone else around him better. All of our guys share the ball and look for the best shot. He's a big time player though."

It was that kind of effort Flowers was hoping to see as the Chargers were coming off a tough loss to Cape Fear Academy in the WCDS New Year's Eve Classic in which the Chargers shot just 21 percent from the field.

Rather than get an open look from the outside against the zone, they opted to give the ball up and get an easy bucket.

"We all know each other's game," Davis said. "So we know where to look for people. Tonight we wanted to make sure we were getting to the basket more and getting better looks than we had last game."

Forde dropped in 11 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists. PJ Hill and Jason Jones combined for 23 points in reserve roles.

On a night when every WCDS player got into the game and the team rebounded from a disappointing loss so well, there was only one thing that went wrong.

Freshman DJ Waters, who has played huge minutes and been a defensive stopper off the bench, drove to the basket for a layup and came crashing to the ground as he was fouled. Waters was examined before getting transported to the hospital for a possible head injury.

Flowers couldn't provide an update.

"I'm headed over (to the emergency room) right after this," Flowers said. "I'm not expecting good news, but I'm hoping it's not bad news."