Chargers fall to Knights in CPIC final

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on February 17, 2008 2:10 AM

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The Wayne Country Day School Chargers fell behind early to Greenfield and could never recover, as the Knights finished off a perfect Coastal Plains Independent Conference season with 66-54 victory in the tournament championship.

Chris Richardson got things rolling with a 3 to give the Knights a lead they would never relinquish. The super sophomore tallied eight of the Knights' first 10 points as they raced out to a 13-2 advantage.

"Tonight he showed why he is one of the state's top sophomore prospects," Greenfield coach Rob Salter said. "He came out quick and got us going."

A pair of baskets to end the first quarter would get WCDS back to within seven points. Turnovers plagued the Chargers in the second period, leading to a 34-23 halftime lead in favor of the Knights.

"We had a few turnovers early that hurt us," Charger coach terry Jones said. "You can't afford to do that against a team like Greenfield. Every possession is important, and you have to make them count."

Coming out of the intermission WCDS (21-7 overall) trimmed the deficit to seven. A Greenfield break-away quelled the comeback attempt as Brian McNair found Damont Williams with a no-look pass setting up an easy bucket.

Re-energized with three minutes left in the third, Greenfield went on 6-0 run and essentially put the game out of reach.

"This is a great rivalry, and whenever Greenfield comes to Wayne Country Day, it's going to be an exciting matchup. Tonight we played well enough to come out on top," Salter said.

WCDS outscored the Knights 20-18 in the fourth quarter, but could never get back within single digits.

Reco McCarter led the Chargers on the offensive end with 16 points, including four 3's and a thunderous dunk. He was aided by 12 points from Tim Hobbs.

"When you have (McCarter's) ability it's important to come out with a plan as far as how you are going to attack on offense. You have to be able to position yourself and adjust," Jones said of his star guard.

Greenfield was paced by Richardson's 21 and Williams' 16.

Following the game, McCarter, Floronta Wynn and Josh Gregory received All-CPIC honors. Hobbs earned honorable mention accolades.

"We're going to go into states next week and see what happens," Jones said. "We have a youthful team, as well as a group of seniors at the core, so hopefully the light will come on early and we can make a run."