Flyers Dash Mount Zion Hopes with 30-0 First-Half Run
The Sandhills Community College basketball team (18-7) ended the first half on a 30-0 run and went on to defeat undermanned Mount Zion Prep of Durham 107-70 at the Hangar on Thursday.
The Flyers led 21-19 with seven minutes remaining in the first half when Sayaun Dent put in a teammate's miss to initiate the tremendous burst. A spectacular drive to the basket for a three-point play by Tyrell Allmond was followed by a Casey Clarkson three.
Then a basket in transition by Allmond, following a blocked shot at the other end by Evan Davis, added up to the first 10 points with just over one minute of time elapsing. Two threes by Winston Bryan, another by Clarkson and one by Chase Morrisette-Barnett all helped produce a 51-19 lead at the intermission.
The Warriors, who defeated the Flyers 78-69 on November 6, made only 17 per cent of their shots from the field in the first half. The margin topped out at 39 points on a basket by Calvin Ahoume with about 15 minutes remaining in the game before the teams traded baskets the rest of the way.
"I thought it was a real good effort on our part from about the 10-minute mark of the first half until about the 12-minute mark of the second," Flyers' Coach Mike Apple said. "Then it got be, well it's over with and I'll get mine.
"We showed some concerted glimpses of good defensive play I thought. I was real pleased with Devian (Smith) and what he's doing for us at point guard. He's pushing the ball offensively and defensively he has really become a problem for the other team's guards."
Highlights of the second half included back-to-back dunks by high-flying Damauri Sexton, and a 28-point half by the Warriors' Legacy Wallace who finished with 31 points, including seven treys.
"It got so easy for us we let down," Apple said. "If you let a good player get his confidence they're a problem the rest of the game."
Holt Walker, who had his way with the Warriors in the paint, also drained a pair of threes and scored all of his team-high 14 points in the second half. Dent added 13 and a team- best eight rebounds. Morrisette-Barnett had 11 points, and Donnie Haith, Clarkson and Ahoume collected 10 apiece.
The assist leaders were Clarkson with seven and Smith with six. Allmond scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds in a productive 11 minutes of action. The Flyers collected 23 offensive rebounds in all.
A welcome sight on the Flyer side were Tavarus Peterson and Delton Davis, who along with red-shirt freshman Zion Copeland, are recovering from injuries suffered in an automobile accident in early January.
The Flyers are at home again next Thursday at 7 p.m. with Washington Academy of Greenville providing the opposition.
Mount Zion – Haynes 3 1-2 9, Wallace 11 2-5 31, Chavis 1 0-0 2, Walker 5 0-0 14, Savoury 4 6-9 14, Norton 0 0-1 0 Total 24 9-17 70. Sandhills – Morrisette-Barnett 5 0-0 11, Haith 5 0-0 10, Smith 2 1-2 5, Dent 6 1-1 13, Ahoume 5 0-0 10, Ratliff 0 0-0 0, Grissett 0 1-4 1, Sexton 4 0-1 8, Bryan 2 0-0 6, Allmond 4 1-1 9, Williams 2 0-0 4, Walker 6 0-0 14, E. Davis 3 0-0 6, Clarkson 4 0-0 10 Totals 48 4-9 107. Three-point goals: MZ 13 (Wallace 7, Walker 4, Haynes 2); SCC 7 (Bryan 2, Walker 2, Clarkson 2, Morrisette-Barnett).
by Charlie Bergmann
photo by Donna Ford
