NCISAA 1A playoffs: Victory Christian boys derail WCDS

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on February 17, 2016 1:48 PM

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jhayes@newsargus.com

This was an affair in two acts.

That is one of many ways to describe Wayne Country Day's opening-round, 87-78 loss to Victory Christian Center in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A boys' basketball playoffs Tuesday evening.

The Chargers -- who started quickly and played with an iron branded bit of toughness throughout -- ultimately lost their way amid an untimely rash of questionable officiating and second-half turnovers.

Wayne Country Day finished the season 14-15 overall.

Act one of the contest provided every appearance of a pre-Olympic indoor track and field medley, with both teams putting on a first-quarter show -- especially Victory Christian's Zachary Mack.

The junior guard from Hartsville, S.C., was electric, getting to the rim at will and making a dizzying array of 3-point attempts -- seven in all. He finished with a game-high 37 points.

"He's a tough kid," WCD head coach David Flowers said of Mack. "We tried to run him off the 3-point line ... he just shot the ball well."

Wayne Country Day had no desire to concede to a hot hand.

The Chargers, led in the early going by sophomore Cole Atwood, kept the Victory advantage from getting out of hand with their own style of deft shooting from the field. That prowess, coupled with a Jamal King triple to end the quarter, propelled the Chargers to a 24-23 lead after one stanza.

That's when Victory Christian used its diversity.

The Kings' lineup, which features three players 6-foot-5 or taller, began pounding the glass and making WCD prosperity difficult to find in the lane. A quick 10-0 run to begin the quarter -- again, with Mack in the mix -- resulted in a 45-42 halftime lead.

Act two unquestionably resembled an episode of the Twilight Zone.

Full court run-and-gun? Gone.

Layups and kick-out triples? Nowhere in sight.

Technical fouls? Prevalent to the point of distraction.

The fluidity and motion of the game's first half was substituted for by methodical, stay-in-your-lane offense and grind-down, man-to-man defense.

And further, foul shooting.

For the contest, Victory Christian visited the charity stripe a mind-bending 38 times -- a number shocking to even the most casual hoops observer -- and certainly one not lost on Wayne Country Day. The Chargers -- equally aggressive and savvy throughout the contest -- attempted just 13 foul shots.

"I think it's terrible," Flowers noted, "absolutely terrible. It takes the game out of the kids' hands."

Both teams were issued technical fouls in the second half, causing the frenzied, autobahn-inspired pace of the game's opening minutes to all but disappear.

WCD continued to battle, however, courtesy of prized freshman Jamal King, whose two-handed baseline spike cut the Kings' advantage to 76-70 with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter.

Turnovers, however, proved their undoing. The Chargers' last miscue, committed with less than a minute remaining, paved the way for an extended stay reservation at the free throw line for Victory Christian.

The loss left Flowers pensive regarding his senior class.

"Jamal Forde is a thousand-point scorer," he noted, "and Tony is that guy -- you just love him. Earlier this year, I asked him to be the sixth man ... he jumped into that role like he loved it."

And while there is little doubt the Chargers' coaches and players disliked the end of their 2015-2016 campaign -- there is absolutely none regarding their potential this coming fall.

They'll be back on this stage.