BOYS' BASKETBALL: WCDS headed back to Elite 8

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on February 17, 2017 10:02 AM

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bcoley@newsargus.com

Terra Ceia may have entered Wayne Country Day's gym as the No. 11 seed, but the Chargers expected a fight.

And that's exactly what they got Thursday night.

The Warriors -- whose crowd seemed much louder than the home team's fan base -- swung at the Chargers with all they had.

But with patience and ball movement, WCDS survived 76-71 in a mentally and emotionally exhausting second-round N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A playoff matchup.

The Chargers visit Greenfield in quarterfinal-round play on Saturday. Tip-off is 3 p.m.

Terra Ceia finished the season 25-2 -- its only losses coming against WCDS.

"The pressure was on us tonight," Flowers said. "We're the higher seed. We were supposed to win."

WCDS grabbed control early and sprinted to a 16-4 lead midway through the first quarter. But the Knights clawed their way back, and eventually cut the margin to 21-19.

Then the cat and mouse game began.

The Chargers would boost their lead to seven or eight points, and the Knights would respond and whittle it to four or five points. In the third quarter, the cat finally caught the mouse -- Terra Ceia used a 19-8 run to take a 49-45 lead.

"Defensively, it was like we coasted for a little bit instead of trying to talk on the defensive end," Flowers said. "And we were just forcing shots instead of really getting to the basket."

Matters became worse when Jimmie Sanders left the floor with his fourth foul. Flowers was forced to go to his next point guard -- eighth-grader Jaden Cooper.

The young Charger entered the game and knocked down a 3-pointer to give WCDS a 54-53 lead and much-needed momentum. Terra Ceia answered with a basket, but the Chargers scored again and stayed in front for the rest of the game.

"Jaden Cooper," Flowers said. "I love that kid. Eighth-grader steps into a state playoff game...he went to work...he took care of the ball under pressure. I think the guys took that as a little spark. Then we just kept going."

Jamal King led WCDS with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Cole Atwood -- who came off the bench -- added 18 points and three 3-pointers.

WCDS and Greenfield split their regular-season series, with each winning on its home court.

Flowers acknowledged the concern of his players being drained after the close win over Terra Ceia. But the veteran coach noted that the Chargers will come in as the lower seed and have less pressure.

"Now we get to go in there, and we get to play basketball," Flowers said. "It's still the old rivalry of Wayne Country Day and Greenfield, and it will be fun. A win will get you to the final four. The guys are looking at it like, 'All right, we got past this first game, now let's just go play.'"