Mid-Game Burst Propels Streaking Flyers to 10th Win in a Row
Sophomore Elijah Idlett scored a college career-high 25 points, including four treys, as the Sandhills Community College basketball team improved to 26-2 with a 114-77 victory over the Pfeiffer junior varsity in Meisenheimer Monday evening.
Coach Mike Apple's opposite number for the Falcons was Tramaine Pride who played for him at Pinecrest High School and was also a member of his 2012 National Championship team at Sandhills. After coaching at Cox Mill High School last season, Pride became an assistant coach on the Pfeiffer staff last summer (see related story).
The Flyers, 5-0 in Region 10, play their final regular season conference game at 7 p.m. on Wednesday against Johnston CC (10-14, 1-4). It will be held at the Smithfield Recreation and Aquatics Center.
Idlett made a trio of threes and a total of 14 points in the first half, but seven first-half threes helped Pride's squad remain in contention.
The Flyers had seen a double-digit lead decrease to 39-32 with just over two minutes remaining before Idlett capped a 7-0 run with a three that gave them a 46-32 advantage at the intermission. Derreco Miller opened the scoring in the second half with a baseline drive for two and then raced down the court to block a layup at the other end.
A pair of free throws by Miller, and a short jumper by Corry Addison, extended the run that began at the end of the first half to 13-0, creating a comfortable 52-32 Flyer lead. Cameron Richardson scored 11 points in the second half.
Also in double figures for the balanced Flyers were Tyrell Allmond with 14 points, Richardson with 13, Savion Staton with 12, Sayaun Dent with 11 and Cameron Williams with 10. The leaders in rebounds were Idlett and Dent with seven each. Idlett was also credited with a game-high six assists.
Apple felt it was an uneven performance by his squad, especially in the defense and rebounding departments.
"These are concerns moving forward at this time of the year," he said afterward. "I liked the pace Pfeiffer played at because if we advance in the tournament we're going to see teams that play like that. We got back to making the extra pass in the second half and shot the ball pretty well.
"What we want to do now is beat Johnston on Wednesday. If we do, we will probably meet them in the first round of the conference tournament (February 22 and 23 at The Hangar). It's an important game, no doubt. We don't want any slip-ups."
Flyers Extra – The Flyers received all of the first place votes in this week's NJCAA Division III poll. Big movers were two teams from the state of New York as Mohawk Valley CC (22-2) and Nassau CC (21-3) assumed the No. 2 and No. 3 places. Idlett's previous scoring highs as a Flyer were 24 points on two occasions.
Sandhills – Idlett 9 3-3 25, Dent 5 1-2 11, Bryan 2 1-2 6, Addison 2 0-0 4, Miller 3 2-4 8, Ratliffe 1 0-0 3, Staton 3 6-6 12, Allmond 5 2-4 14, Yow 0 2-2 2, Bailey 1 0-0 3, Williams 5 0-1 10, Richardson 6 0-0 13, Davis 1 0-0 2, Medins 0 1-2 1 Totals 43 18-26 114. Pfeiffer – Spry 2 1-3 6, Miller 2 0-0 5, Ianning 3 0-0 7, White 3 3-3 11, Nicolas 2 0-0 4, Daigle 3 2-2 10, Jones 0 0-0 0, Carter, 4 0-0 11, Johnson 2 0-0 5, Edwards 0 0-0 0, Blakney 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-1 0, Wizwen 3 0-0 7, Westbrook 0 0-0 0, Harvey 3 5-6 13, Haive 0 0-2 0 Totals 27 11-17 77. Three-point goals: SCC 10 (Idlett 4, Allmond 2, Bryan, Ratliffe, Bailey, Richardson); PU 12 (Carter 3, Daigle 2, Harvey 2, Spry, Miller, Ianning, Johnson, Wizwen).
by Charlie Bergmann
photo by Donna Ford