Unfortunately for Cary Academy, the rest of the team could only muster 17 more in a 55-47 home loss to Charlotte Country Day.

The Chargers kept it close in the first half – leading at one point midway through the second quarter – but were unable to maintain any consistency on the offensive end and trailed 33-28 at the half. Cary Academy coach Kenny Inge pointed to turnovers as the culprit for his team's inability to string together positive possessions.

"We have numerous things to work on after a game like this," he said. "But first and foremost we have to stop throwing bad passes and take care of the ball better."

The Buccaneers got off to a quick start in the second half — outscoring the Chargers 17-7 in the third quarter — and pushed their lead to 15 heading into the fourth. Turning the ball over and poor execution on offense remained problems for Cary Academy after the break.

"We had a lot of poor shot selection in the second half," Inge said. "Instead of challenging the defense and looking for good shots, we settled for challenged 3-pointers. It's hard to make shots consistently with a hand in your face."

The Bucs made a defensive adjustment in the second half, which appeared to cause the Chargers plenty of trouble. Plus, Country Day got a lift from normal starter Karl Lucas, who missed the first half after leaving his shoes at the team hotel. Lucas finished with seven points.

"We switched to the 2-3 zone in the third quarter and fourth quarters and put a lot of pressure on them," Bucs coach Alfonzo Duncan said. "And we had to play the first half without one of our starters. It always helps to have one of your better players available."

Cary Academy gathered some momentum early in the final quarter — scoring the first six points to pull within nine — but could never get closer than eight.

A bright spot for the Chargers was the work of Council and Jon Lohr on the boards. Each had 13 rebounds, something Inge said is business as usual for those two.

"Jon and Christian did what we expect of them," he said. "Jon works hard on the glass and with Christian's tremendous leaping ability he has to be a force down low. We just have to get better with the basketball and eliminate bad possessions and careless turnovers. Then we'll be all right."