Addison Helps Flyers Nip Blazers' Rally - No. 1 Seeded Storm Next

Corry Addison scored 12 of his game-high 24 points in the final four minutes as the Sandhills Community College basketball team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NJCAA Division II National Championship with a 73-66 victory over John Wood CC on Tuesday evening.

The Blazers cut what was once a 22-point Flyer lead to three before Addison's spree that included a jumper the point guard turned into a 3-point play, followed by a long trey. Savion Staton, another member of last year's Division III national championship squad, finished with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Averaging 16 turnovers per game during the season, the squad from Quincy, IL committed 29 against the Flyers.

"The only thing you could say tonight is that we played good defense," Flyers Coach Mike Apple said on the phone afterwards. "We played good offensively in stretches, but couldn't find the consistency to put those guys a way like we should have when we were up by 20."

Next for the Flyers (20-4) in the tournament held at Danville Area CC in Danville, IL, is a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday against Region 10 rival and the tournament's No. 1 seed, Davidson-Davie (21-2). The Storm defeated St. Clair County 92-66 earlier in the day.

Seven minutes into the game, the cold-shooting Flyers trailed 16-8 before a three by Dharyus Thomas, and then a layup off a steal, for two more, got them going. Later, the game was tied at 24-24 with 5:37 remaining in the half when a basket by Bryan Quiller started an 11-0 run that led to a 37-26 advantage at the intermission.

The lead grew as Staton and Yow drained threes early in the second half. When Yow turned a steal into a dunk by Derreco Miller at the 15:25 mark the Flyers led 54-32.

But the Blazers responded with a 13-2 run. Then led by their leading scorer Jarvis Jennings, they drew to within three points at 60-57 with four minutes remaining in the game. That's when Addison drove for the first two of his dozen points down the stretch.

"Corry was feeling it and I thought Savion played well too, Apple said. "I think we relaxed, but we finished it and that's a credit to our guys."

The Flyers were ranked No. 7 and John Wood No. 9 in the final national Division II poll of the season. No. 2 ranked Davidson handed the Flyers three of their four losses.

"Watching Davidson today, they put on a clinic," Apple said. "We are going to have to play better than we did today for sure. But the score is going to start out 0-0 and we're going to have to be ready to play."

Play for the 16-team field continues through the week, concluding with the consolation finals and national championship game on Saturday.

Sandhills CC – Addison 10 3-3 24, Staton 6 1-2 15, Miller 1 0-0 2, Brayboy 1 1-2 3, Quiller 4 0-4 8, Johnson 3 0-0 7, Thomas 3 0-0 7, Boyd 2 0-1 4, Yow 1 0-0 3, Zachary 0 0-0 0 Totals 31 5-10 73. John Wood CC – Jennings 5 5-10 15, Cox 1 0-0 2, Presley 5 0-0 10, Smith 4 1-2 9, Jefferson 6 2-2 14, Fadika 2 4-6 8, McKinney 1 0-0 2, Hammel 2 1-2 6, Kracht 0 0-0 0, Whiteman 0 0-0 0 Totals 26 13-22 66. Three-point goals: SCC 6 (Staton 2, Addison, Johnson, Yow, Thomas); JWCC 1 (Hammel).  

C. Bergmann