CARY — The Cary Christian girls’ basketball team blew by Rocky Mount Academy on Wednesday with a 73-30 victory, cruising to its second straight regular-season conference championship.

The Lady Knights, ranked No. 2 in the 2-A private school rankings, enter this week’s Eastern Plains Independent Conference Tournament with a staggering 24-3 record (8-0). The three losses have come by a combined eight points.

“They’ve just really stepped up their play, showed a lot of poise and played with character,” Cary Christian coach Carmen Javaux said.

Leading the charge this year has been freshman center Dakota Dukes. Dukes posted 19 points against Rocky Mount Academy on Wednesday — just a day after going for 23 points and 17 rebounds against Halifax Academy.

Sophomore Katrina Wertz hit her first three 3-point attempts of the game en route to 11 points, while sharp-shooting Savannah Lagaly hit four from downtown for 12 points.

“That’s one thing I stress is that we just move that ball,” Javaux said. “Keep swinging it so we get the best shot possible and keep moving it from the outside to the inside and back out again.”

Brittany Lord, the team’s only junior, got 13 points, using her defensive prowess to force turnovers and get out in transition.

All seven players had a well-defined role to play, whether it was to be the team’s shooter, defender or low-post presence.

“The chemistry on this team has just been fantastic,” Javaux said. “Everyone absolutely contributes every night in every way possible.”

The last Rocky Mount Academy lead of the game — a 10-8 first-quarter advantage — felt like it occurred a month ago by the time the ensuing 22-3 Cary Christian run was finished.

After ending the first half up 32-20, Cary Christian went on a monster 41-10 run the rest of the way.

“Coach Javaux has done an amazing job bringing us together and giving us more confidence,” Wertz said.

The Lady Knights have been using just seven varsity players in conference play, but depth doesn’t seem necessary.

Neither does senior leadership. Cary Christian doesn’t have a single senior in the program, so the future looks just as bright as this year’s chances of bringing home the school’s first-ever conference tournament championship.

“It’s cool because we’re so young and we have so much more to build on,” Dukes said. “We’re definitely growing. A couple of years ago these sophomore were eighth-graders and made it to states for the first time and last year we made it to semifinals for the first time.”

While winning back-to-back regular season titles is nice, the accomplishment can’t hang on the gym wall at Cary Christian — only conference championships will.

In last year’s conference tournament, the Lady Knights were denied the EPIC championship. This year won’t be easy either, with St. David’s — a team Cary Christian defeated on a last-second put-back by Abby Pettit to win 35-34 on Jan. 30 — waiting in the wings.

“We're not overconfident,” Duke said. “But we are excited.”

The EPIC tournament will be held at Rocky Mount Academy on Friday and Saturday.