Flyers Stumble in Showdown Against the Storm

The statistics tell the story about the Sandhills Community College basketball team's 106-89 loss at Davidson County Community College on Wednesday.

"We had too many turnovers and poor free throw shooting when we had opportunities to cut into the lead." Flyers coach Mike Apple said afterward. "We were tentative on offense and a lot of times that leads to a lot of turnovers."

The Flyers (18-5 overall, 5-2 Region X) turned the ball over 26 times to 17 for the Storm. They were 24-for-40 from the charity stripe compared to 27-for-34 for the home team.  Donnie Haith scored 18 points and Mason Harrell had 15 points and 11 rebounds  for the Flyers. Brandon Rothrock poured in 26 points for the winners.

The loss puts Davidson (17-5, 6-1) in a strong position to claim the Region X regular season title with each team having two conference games remaining.

The Flyers overcame five turnovers in the first four minutes of play and went on to put together their best stretch of basketball of the evening. Trailing 14-13 at the 13 minute mark, Tavarus Peterson fed Harrell for a dunk. That kicked off a 13-4 run that included a three by Malik McCrimmon and basket in transition by Parrish Stevons off a pass from Chase Morrissette-Barnett that made it 26-18.

The Storm rallied and the teams were tied at 40-40 before a 7-1 run put the home team in front 50-43 at the intermission. The Flyers showed signs early in the second half of challenging for the lead.

Haith scored in transition for the first points of the half. Mixed in with a three by Rothrock, Morrissette-Barnette canned a three and a pair of free throws making it 53-50. But a series of misadventures led to 10 points in a row for the Storm.

The Flyers cut the margin to five on a three by Luke Moore at the 13-minute mark, and again on a Stevons' put-back about a minute later.  The Storm then went on to maintain a double-digit lead most of the rest of the way. Moore, who was 6-for-10 from the field, finished with 13 points and Stevons added 11.

"Missed free throws, bad possessions," Apple said, "When we had the opportunities, we didn't take advantage. My hat is off to Davidson. They played like they wanted to win a conference championship tonight and Sandhills didn't."

Ranked No. 7 in this week's NJCAA Division III poll, the Flyers are scheduled to entertain Thomas Nelson CC on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Heins Gymnasium. They have Region X games remaining at Johnston CC on February 10 and at home against Central Carolina CC on February 14.

"We have to play tougher defensively and offensively," Apple said. "We're talented enough, but right now we're searching for that toughness. Hopefully we're going to find it."

Sandhills – Stevons 4 2-4 11, Harrell 5 5-7 15, Haith 6 3-5 18, Morrissette-Barnett 1 2-2 5, Garrison 0 3-6 3, Merriweather 1 0-0 2, Clarkson 1 1-2 3, Sexton 0 0-1 0, McCrimmon 1 1-2 4, McFadden 0 0-0 0, Peterson 2 5-6 9, Moore 6 0-0 13, Copeland 0 0-0 0, Childs 2 2-5 6, Grissett 0 0-0 0 Totals 29 24-40 89. Davidson – Perdue 6 2-3 14, Blakeney 4 7-8 17, Rothrock 6 11-13 26, Wright 4 1-2 9,Jones 4 0-1 9, Kelsey 0 0-1 0, Hill 7 6-6 22, McBride 0 0-0 0, Turner 0 0-0 0, Dowling 1 0-0 2, Pierce 3 0-0 7 Totals 35 27-34 106. Three-point goals: SCC 7 (Haith 3, Stevons, Morrissette-Barnett, McCrimmon, Moore); DCCC  9 (Rothrock 3, Hill 2, Blakeney 2, Jones, Pierce).

by Charlie Bergmann

photo by Donna Ford