Flyers Wrap Up 2023 on a High Note With Road Win at Mountain Gateway
The Sandhills Community College basketball team completed the pre-holiday portion of its schedule with a 103-88 victory over Mountain Gateway CC on Saturday afternoon in Clifton Forge, VA.
Ayden Gittens led the way with 23 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Isaiah Nelson chipped in with 21 and Damien Robinson scored 18 to go with 16 boards for his 11th double-double of the season. Chad Kinch was also in double figures with 13 points.
The 10th ranked in Division III Flyers improved to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in Region 10 with their third victory in a row. The Roadrunners dropped to 8-5 and 2-2. Coach Mike Apple's squad returns to action on January 3when it travels to Thomasville for a 7 p.m. contest against a Davidson-Davie squad that is currently ranked No. 2 in DII with a record of 11-1.
The Flyers took their first lead against the Roadrunners at 11-9 on a three by Nelson and never trailed again. They took their first double-digit lead at 24-13 on a putback by Trey Williams on the way to a 49-40 advantage at the intermission.
The home team scored the first basket of the second half to draw within seven, but was unable to get any closer than that the rest of the way. With Gittens pouring in 13 second half points, the Flyers took their largest lead at 80-58 on a pair of free throws by Kinch midway through the second half.
Missing four players, including starters Jamori McDougald and Zach Riddle because of illness for the second game in a row, sophomore Jamal Williams, sidelined since early November with a leg injury, returned to contribute six inside points to the Flyers cause. The Flyers finished with a 53 to 28 advantage in rebounds.
Not including Patrick and Henry CC's scheduled game at Virginia Peninsula on Sunday, following are the current Region 10 standings: Virginia Peninsula 1-0, Sandhills 2-1, Patrick Henry 2-1, Mountain Gateway 2-2, Paul D. Camp 2-2 and Oxford Emory 0-3.
Former Flyers in other places – Kendall Wooldridge, a member of last season's national runner-up squad, scored 25 points, including five treys, helping Johnson and Wales defeat Brevard College in a game last week. Wooldridge is averaging a team-high 13.4 points per game. Also from last year's squad, Zac Sledge leads Methodist University in rebounds at 7.8 per game and is second in scoring at 13.2 per contest. In the Monarch's loss to Piedmont College on Friday, he was 9-for-16 from the field, scoring a team-high 22 points to go with six rebounds and four blocked shots.
C. Bergmann