Flyers Tame Cougars - Region 10 Tournament Next
The Sandhills Community College basketball team began the second half against Central Carolina CC with a 22-3 run that helped turn a close game into a 95-57 rout on Wednesday evening at The Hangar.
Derreco Miller with 20 points, and Corry Addison with 13, led the way as the No. 7 ranked Flyers improved to 17-3 overall, and 14-3 in Region 10. The Sophomore Night victory completed regular season play. The Cougars dropped to 4-12 in the region and overall.
As the No. 2 seed behind No.1 Davidson-Davie CC for the Region 10 tournament, the Flyers will be idle until next Tuesday. Then they host the winner of one of Saturday's first round games between No. 8 seeded Guilford Tech and No. 5 Fayetteville Tech in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal contest.
Prior to Wednesday's tip-off, sophomores Addison, Miller, Will Boyd, Savion Staton and Nathan Yow were honored. A basket by Boyd, from Staton, and then a jumper by Addison, opened the scoring. Later leading 32-31, two jumpers in a row by Nasir Johnson, and a basket in transition by Camron Zachary, helped build a 40-33 advantage at the intermission.
Flyers' Coach Mike Apple thought the Cougars did a good job of managing the clock in order to control the tempo and remain in contention in the first half.
"I thought we were playing good defense on their perimeter because they were 2-for-14 from the three-point line at halftime," he said. "I wanted to pick up the tempo because I didn't think we were playing fast enough."
Staton drove for two, and then turned a steal into a dunk, to open the second half scoring. The 22-3 burst included some hard work inside by Miller and freshman Bryan Quiller, and a three by Yow. It ended on a pair of free throws by Johnson that gave the home team a 62-36 lead with 13:56 remaining in the game.
The Flyers continued to pour it on. Consecutive dunks by Miller, the first on a pass from Yow, and the second assisted by Keegan Brayboy, started a 24-6 run. Later, a three by Jonah Murr established the largest lead at 93-50.
"I told them if we make a run, get a couple stops and make another run, the game is over," Apple said. "And that's exactly what they did."
Like the other sophomores, Boyd, a transfer from Catawba Valley CC, hopes to continue his basketball career at a four-year college. He plans to pursue a degree in business administration. The 6-foot-9 forward red-shirted last season. Against the Cougars, he contributed four points, four rebounds, two assists and blocked a shot.
Boyd was 5-for-6 from the field and scored a season-high 11 points with five rebounds and three blocked shots in an important road win at Fayetteville Tech in February.
According to Apple, Boyd was a big contributor during the 2020 national championship season he sat out because of the effort he brought to practice every day.
"You have to stay ready and that starts with practice," Boyd said. "Coach always says to go hard because you never know when you are going to get called. I want to thank Coach Apple for giving me the opportunity to play at Sandhills."
Flyers extra – Miller has now scored 20 or more points in five consecutive games. He was 9-for-11 from the field on Wednesday, increasing his No. 2 in Division II field goal percentage to 70.7. Overall, the Flyers connected on 51.3 per cent of their shots from the field and are No. 3 in Division II with a field goal percentage for the season of 50.6 per cent. Their scoring average of 100.3 points per game is second behind No. 1 ranked Ancilla College (IN) at 101.2.
Central Carolina – Bell 2 0-0 4, M. Moore 3 1-2 8, Womble 0 0-0 0, Gardner 4 0-0 10, Thiam 8 0-0 16, Case 2 0-0 5, Haidera 0 4-4 4, Jones 2 0-0 4, Long 1 0-0 2, Shutt 0 2-3 2, Conwell 0 2-2 2, C. Moore 0 0-0 0 Totals 22 9-11 57. Sandhills – Staton 4 0-0 8, Addison 5 2-2 13, Yow 2 0-0 6, Miller 9 2-4 20, Boyd 2 0-0 4, Johnson 3 2-2 8, Brayboy 2 0-0 4, Thomas 5 0-0 11, Zachary 2 0-1 5, Murr 1 2-2 5, Murphy 1 0-0 2, Quiller 3 4-6 10, Sledge 0 0-0 0 Totals 39 12-17 95. Three-point goals: CCCC 4 (Gardner 2, M. Moore , Case); SCC 5 (Yow 2, Addison, Thomas, Murr).
C. Bergmann