Aloha Night Was a Good Night for the Flyers
It was cold and rainy outside, but on Aloha Night at the Hangar the Sandhills Community College basketball team was red-hot right from the start.
The Flyers scored the first 13 points of Friday's game against West Georgia Tech. They built the margin to as high as 36 points in the first half on the way to a 109-64 victory. Bouncing back from a home loss to Patrick Henry CC on Wednesday, the No. 4 ranked squad (NJCAA Division III national poll) improved to 11-2 on the season while the Golden Knights dropped to 5-6.
Coach Mike Apple's team takes a 2-0 conference record into Sunday's 3 p.m. contest against Central Carolina CC (8-6, 1-1) in Sanford. The Cougars are coming off a 120-87 loss to Davidson County CC on Wednesday.
Fans were given leis on their way into the gym on the festive night. The people in the student section were bedecked with colorful shirts, leis and in some cases hula skirts. And yes, there was of course a limbo contest on the court at halftime.
"Coach Apple put the emphasis on playing hard and we came out with great energy," point guard Casey Clarkson said after contributing three treys and 11 points to the cause. "We enjoyed Aloha Night. It was a good night. It was a great night."
Early on, Donnie Haith made an old fashioned three-point play, and then came right back and drained a shot from behind the arc to help create the 13-0 start. Beginning about midway through the half, a pair of free throws by Parrish Stevons ignited a 19-0 run. The barrage also included baskets by Chase Morrissette-Barnett and Haith, four points in a row by Mason Harrell, threes by Stevons and Clarkson, and finally a coast-to-coast jaunt by Stevons that added up to a whopping 42-15 advantage.
Stevons scored 11 of his team-high 14 points in the first half. Morrissette-Barnett finished with 13. Fifty-eight of the Flyers' points came off the bench led by Damauri Sexton and Luke Moore with 11 points apiece. Zion Copeland added six points and a team-high eight rebounds.
"I thought our guys were much more focused at the start than they were for our last game," Apple said. "We certainly emphasized that the last couple of days. We have a lot of weapons and when we share the ball like we did it shows what our players can do. We took care of business early and were able to coast in at the end.
"I was really pleased that Damauri and Luke got going like they did because they are so valuable in what they can do for us. I thought Casey provided some real good relief for Donnie off the bench and hit some threes. Zion made the most of his minutes and did a great job on the backboard."
During the halftime break, athletic director Aaron Denton recognized Paige Garner of the Lady Flyers volleyball team, and Daniel Taylor of the men's cross country team, at mid-court for earning NJCAA All-American honors. The idea for Aloha Night came from Maiyah Cotton, a student, who is the president of the Spirit Club at the college.
"The biggest thing is I love seeing students in the gym and they seemed to be having a good time," Apple said. "I can't say enough about our athletes that aren't basketball players. They come out in support and really get into it."
Sexton, a 6-foot-6 red-shirt freshman forward, has made 56 percent of his shots from the field, 76 per cent of his free throws and averaged eight points per game coming off the bench.
"It was a fun night and a good win for the team," he said. "We needed that after the loss a couple of days ago. The crowd and the bench helped us turn things up. We have a good student section over there.
"We're not going to let down our guard on Sunday."
West Georgia – Rozier 2 0-0 4, Wilkins 2 0-0 4, Boyer 3 2-3 8, Brown 1 3-9 5, Ali 2 3-4 7, 12 Greer 2 1-6 5, Thomas 1 2-2 4, Amos 0 2-2 2, Haye 4(1) 0-0 9, Smith 3 2-2 8, Foster 1 0-0 2, Garside 3 0-0 6 Totals 24 15-28 64. Sandhills – Stevons 5 3-4 14, Garrison 3 0-2 6, Harrell 3 2-4 8, Haith 4 1-1 10, Morrissette-Barnett 4 4-5 13, Sexton 5 0-0 11, Clarkson 3 2-2 11, Peterson 2 2-3 6, Moore 4 1-2 11, Childs 3 0-0 6, Copeland 3 0-1 6, Merriweather 1 0-0 3, McFadden 1 0-0 3, Grissett 0 1-2 1, McCrimmon 0 0-0 0 Totals 41 16-26 109. Three-point goals: WGT 1 (Haye); SCC 9 (Clarkson 3, Moore 2, Stevons, Haith, Morrissette-Barnett, Sexton).
by Charlie Bergman
photo by Donna Ford