Wayne Country Day girls roll, boys win at buzzer in home sweep of Greenfield

Wayne Country Day pulled off a home sweep of conference rival Greenfield School in dramatic fashion Friday night in a boys’ game that saw North Carolina commit Coby White score 36 points in a losing effort for the visiting Knights.

The girls won 51-12 and the boys took a 64-61 nail-biter.

Both Charger teams remain undefeated in Coastal Plain 1A Conference play, which will make for a pivotal rematch when the teams meet again in Wilson on Feb. 3.

GIRLS

Greenfield coach Daniel Johnson put it simply.

“This is the best team we’ve played this year,” he said after his Knights lost.

The Chargers (13-7, 5-0) remain comfortably in first place in the conference standings after a contest where they held their opponent to just six first half points.

“They dominated in the paint,” Johnson said.

Center Lexi Jeffreys scored eight of her 10 points in the first half to push the home team to a 35-6 advantage at halftime and the Chargers’ defense took it from there.

“The girls are buying into the defensive philosophy,” said WCDS coach David Flowers.

In the second half, Jala Holloman powered the Chargers offense, scoring 18 points in the third quarter alone to keep the game out of reach. Holloman led all scorers with 20 points.

BOYS

Greenfield’s Coby White put on a 36-point performance in his hometown, but a jumper with 0.8 seconds remaining from Wayne Country Day’s Marcus Metcalf lifted the Chargers to a 64-61 win over the visiting Knights.

The gymnasium was packed with spectators looking to catch a glimpse of White, who has verbally committed to the Tar Heels, but coach David Flowers said his team was delighted to play spoiler, earning a big win over a team they hadn’t beaten at home in seven years.

“They didn’t know how good we are as a team,” he said.

The Chargers (14-8, 2-0) led by as many as nine late in the second half, helped by steady free throw shooting down the stretch.

“It was big to see us still have composure in a big-time game,” Flowers said.

Jamal King, the Chargers’ scoring leader, fouled out with 1:31 remaining, giving the Knights an opening.

White and Dorieon Suggs led a 22-point frontcourt attack in the fourth quarter that tied it up at 61 with 19.7 seconds remaining. Suggs finished with 14 points while Elijah McCadden scored 8.

“Coby kept us in the game,” said Greenfield coach Rob Salter.

The Chargers took the inbound and waited for a final shot: Metcalf’s floating jumper from the top of the key. He added a free throw to finish with 10 points.

“We didn’t play good enough to win,” Salter said, pointing to a 4-23 performance from behind the arc by his Knights (14-8, 3-1).

Flowers said he’s proud of his team’s play, but he isn’t convinced they’ve peaked, suggesting that’s what the playoffs are for.

“We’re playing great,” he said. “We’re playing almost our best.”

This story was originally published January 21, 2017 at 2:59 AM with the headline "Wayne Country Day girls roll, boys win at buzzer in home sweep of Greenfield."