Pressure defense wakes up WCDS boys

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

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The pressure defense did the trick after Wayne Country Day played a sluggish opening period against Epiphany on Saturday afternoon.

The full-court strategy coaxed the Falcons into a few turnovers and got the Chargers' blood pumping as they flourished in the transition game. WCDS built a comfortable double-digit margin by halftime and cruised to a 61-41 victory in Coastal Plains Independent 1-A/2-A Conference play.

Victor Miller buried three 3-pointers and led three Chargers in double figures with 15 points. Lee Atkinson and Joel Davis added 10 points apiece as WCDS notched its first 20-win season since 2010 and fourth overall since 2008.

"We played Monday and hadn't touched a basketball since this morning at a shootaround," first-year Chargers head coach David Flowers said. "You can see that we couldn't knock out shots down. We missed eight layups the first quarter. It was stuff we were not supposed to do.

"But I will take a win."

Wayne Country Day (20-9 overall, 4-4 CPIC) scored the first eight points of the game and led 11-4 after one period. Flowers employed the full-court pressure and his exploded from there.

Miller drained a pair of 3-pointers, handed out three assists and picked the Falcons for three steals during the Chargers' 22-point, second-quarter outburst. Atkinson, the reigning CPIC player-of-the-year, scored eight points.

Rosewood transfer Joel Davis added six points.

"We pressed them full-court, not because it's something we do on a regular basis but because I wanted them to get back in shape a little bit," Flowers said. "You've been off for four days, you've got to do something. It did open up the game ... at least give us some kind of run out of it."

The Chargers built as much as a 24-point lead in the second half before Flowers began interchanging his lineup on the floor. Overall, seven players scratched in the scoring book and everyone saw some time on the court.

WCDS swept the regular-season series.

"It was nice to get everybody in and have everybody run a little bit," Flowers said. "It was good to be able to do that kind of stuff. (But) it was a very ugly game to watch."