Flyers' Second Half Too Much for Falcons - Davidson Next

Mason Harrell scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and the Sandhills Community College basketball team rolled to a 109-90 road victory over the Pfeiffer junior varsity on Monday afternoon.

The 6-foot-8 junior made 11 of his 12 shots from the field and was also credited with 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots as the Flyers finally got down to business after going into the locker room at the intermission tied at 44-44. Other top scorers for the winners were Tavarus Peterson with 16 points and Parrish Stevons with 11. The Falcons launched 48 shots from behind the arc in the game, connecting on 13 of them.

"In the first half we weren't playing hard," according to freshman point guard Donnie Haith who said the players heard about that deficiency from the coaches during the break. "Mason played more aggressive in the second half. He had three or four dunks. They couldn't stop him."

The Flyers (18-4 overall, 5-1 Region X) are back in action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Davidson County CC (16-5, 5-1) with first place in the conference at stake.

Coach Mike Apple's squad built a double-digit lead in the first half, but couldn't handle the prosperity and the Falcons drew even. In addition to Harrell's inspired play, he pointed to several players that were big contributors off the bench after the break.

"We got a great lift from Tavarus and from Malik McCrimmon with his hard work on defense and scoring," the coach said. "Mason was really dominant in the second half. Our guys did a good job of finding him and he did a good job of finishing."

Almost half of the Flyers' point production came from non-starters. McCrimmon finished with seven points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Point guard Casey Clarkson contributed six points, six rebounds and six assists. 

The Flyers and Davidson split their first two meetings so Wednesday's game could go a long way toward determining the regular-season conference champion.  The Flyers will be back at home on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip-off against Thomas Nelson CC of Hampton, VA.

Sandhills – Stevons 4 2-2 11, Harrell 11 0-2 22, Haith 3 1-3 8, Morrissette-Barnett 3 2-2 8, Garrison 3 3-6 9, Merriweather 0 0-0 0, Clarkson 2 1-2 6, Sexton 1 0-0 2, McCrimmon 3 0-0 7, McFadden 1 3-4 6, Peterson 5 5-6 16, Moore 3 0-0 6, Copeland 1 2-2 4, Childs 1 0-2 2, Murdock 0 0-0 0, Grissett 1 0-0 2 Totals 42 19-31 109. Pfeiffer – Johnson 5 7-8 18, Bailey 4 2-4 14, McLamb 3 0-0 7, Gober 2 1-2 6, Harvey 2 1-1 6, Farrades 5 0-0 14, Craven 0 2-2 2, Simmons 4 2-4 10, Robinson 0 0-0 0, Sheeko 1 0-0 2, Metcalf 0 2-2 2, Fosha 3 2-3 9 Totals 29 19 26 90. Three-point goals: SCC 6 (Stevons, Haith, Clarkson, McCrimmon, McFadden, Peterson); PU 13 (Bailey 4, Farrades 4, Johnson, McLamb, Gober, Harvey, Fosha).

by Charlie Bergmann

photo by Donna Ford