6-0 Flyers Take Show on the Road

Casey Clarkson came out of nowhere to score 11 points in a row early in the second half to help Sandhills Community College break open Wednesday's basketball game against visiting Guilford Tech.

Over a period of about two minutes, the 5-foot-7 red-shirt freshman guard sank three treys and a short jumper that capped a 23-5 run. He was fouled in the act of making his fourth basket. Before taking the free throw he walked toward the cheering fans at the Hangar and raised his arms calling for more.

"It's just the energy they give us with their support," he said afterward. "And with that support we try to give them what they want to see. I wanted to make sure they left with smiles on their faces."

It was relatively smooth sailing after that as the Flyers improved to 6-0 with a 113-94 victory. Demauri Sexton led the way with 18 points. In addition to Clarkson's 11, other Flyers in double figures were Chase Morrissette-Barnett with 14, Parrish Stevons with 12 and Emmanuel Merriweather and Donnie Haith with 10 each.

The six-game homestand now behind them, Coach Mike Apple's squad heads to Virginia for games against Anne Arundel CC (0-3) at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Division II Northern Virginia CC (1-3) at noon on Sunday.

"I think we will have our hands full and it will be interesting to see how we adjust to playing on the road," the coach said. "It's a good opportunity for the guys to continue to build chemistry and learn how to coexist with each other."

Prior to Wednesday's game, Apple was asked about his plan for dealing with former Flyer Drew Cone who scored 37 points, including nine threes, in the Titan's previous game against Bryant and Stratton.

"We will put Parrish on him and we will be okay," he said.

The 5-7 guard was a teammate of Stevon's as a red-shirt freshman during the 2015-16 season.

"Drew has always been a good shooter," said the 6-1 Stevons. "He is averaging 23-points a game and I really wanted to keep him from scoring so they wouldn't have any chance. With the help of my teammates I did that."

Cone scored four of his 14 points in the game in the first half without taking a three-point shot. He finished one-for-three from behind the arc. But the visitors beat the home team in transition enough times to lead by as many as seven points before Sexton with 14 points, and Juwaan Childs and Emmanuel Merriweather with five apiece, came off the bench to help the Flyers take a 53-50 advantage into the intermission.

 "We were playing down to the level of their game instead of up to ours," Sexton said of the lapses on defense. "We can't take plays off. That's a team thing. That's something we'll talk about."

Early in the second half the Flyers took their first double-digit lead at 63-53 when Sexton scored in transition off a pass from Childs. Clarkson's scoring spree followed shortly thereafter.

Sexton has been in double figures in four of six games while averaging 10.2 point per contest coming off the bench. The 6-6 red-shirt freshman has made 60 per cent of his shots from the field and 76 per cent from the free throw line.

"Damauri has not been extremely worried about his minutes," Apple said. "He just wants to contribute. He's taken advantage of the minutes he's gotten and is getting a bigger and bigger role with the team."

The Flyers made a season-best 56.4 per cent of their shots from the field and had a season-high 27 assists led by Johnny McFadden with five. They out-rebounded their sixth opponent in a row led by Mason Harrell with nine boards. They are fourth in NJCAA Division III in scoring at 103.5 points per game. Stevons is averaging 16.7 points per game to lead the Flyers.

Guilford Tech – Cone 4 5-6 14, Rodgers 6 6-7 19, Peaks 2 2-3 6, Watkins 3 2-2 8, Hancock 1 1-2 3, Dixon 1 0-0 3, Jeffries 3 4-5 11, Curasi 0 1-2 1, Hilton 3 1-3 7, Leaphart 0 1-2 1, Benfield 3 1-2 8, Patterson 3 1-2 7, Cammack 0 0-0 0, Dunbar 3 0-0 6 Totals 32 25-36 94. Sandhills – Stevons 5 2-2 12, Clarkson 4 0-1 11, Morrissette-Barnett 7 0-0 14, Garrison 2 1-2 5, Harrell 3 3-4 9, Merriweather 3 1-2 10, Sexton 6 5-6 18, McCrimmon 0 0-0 0, McFadden 2 0-0 5, Haith 4 1-2 10, Peterson 1 0-0 2, Moore 3 0-0 7, Copeland 0 0-0 0, Childs 3 1-1 7, Murdock 0 0-0 0, Grissett 1 1-2 3 Totals 44 15-22 113. Three-point goals: GT 5 (Cone, Dixon, Jeffries, Rodgers, Benfield); SCC 10 (Clarkson 3, Merriweather 3, Sexton, McFadden, Moore, Haith).

by Charlie Bergman

photo by Donna Ford