McDougald's First Half Threes Ease the Way for Flyers
The Sandhills Community College basketball team wrapped up the Region 10 regular-season title with a 102-79 road victory over Virginia Peninsula CC on Saturday afternoon in Newport News, VA.
Jamori McDougald helped jump-start the Flyers with six first-half threes on the way to 56-33 lead at the intermission. The sophomore guard finished with seven treys and a game-high 27 points as the Flyers improved to 9-1 in the conference and 21-7 overall. The win was their 10th in the last 11 games while the Gators dropped to 4-3 and 7-8.
Coach Mike Apple's squad is idle until next Saturday when it completes regular season play with a 3 p.m. game against Blue Lights College at The Hangar. The Flyers will be the No. 1 seed when they host the Region 10 tournament on February 23-25.
"One of our objectives today was to get a 23-24 strip on the wall," the coach said, referring to the banners on display at The Hangar. "It's a credit to our guys to be No.1 and I think it gives them confidence. I'm really pleased with our improvement over the season and hope that continues."
Apple also liked the way his players started the second half and played well offensively and defensively throughout.
Other double-figures scorers for the Flyers were Ayden Gittens with 18 points, Damien Robinson with 15, Isaiah Nelson with 11 and Zach Riddle with 10. Robinson led the way with 11 rebounds, recording his 20th double-double of the season. Mike Fee was the leader in assists with five.
The remaining schedule, including the final regular season game, Region 10 tournament and district tournament, should the Flyers advance, will only involve games on the weekends. This week the team will practice on Monday and Tuesday, take Wednesday off for Valentine's Day and then get back to it on Thursday and Friday for the game on Saturday against Blue Lights.
"We hope to practice seriously and stay sharp, starting on Monday," Apple said.
C. Bergmann