Hot Shooting Flyers Rout S4G - Chatlee Classic Continues on Saturday
The Sandhills Community College basketball team scored the first 14 points of the game against Shooting4Greatness Academy and rolled to a 130-67 victory at The Hangar Friday evening.
The Flyers (2-0) made 75.7 percent of their shots from the field as eight players scored in double figures and all 14 that saw action made it into the scoring column. Sophomore Bryan Quiller led the way with 16 points followed by freshman Jamori McDougald with 14, including four treys.
Another sophomore, LeNijel Robinson, put together an all-around effort that produced 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Justin Price poured in 40 points for the team from Raleigh.
"I'm really proud of my guys with the way they started the game," Flyers' Coach Mike Apple said afterward. "We were good defensively, we were good rebounding the ball and then we shot really well. We didn't give S4G much of a chance. We have to get past that now and get ourselves ready to play tomorrow."
The Chatlee Classic continues on Saturday with Shooting for Greatness meeting Oxford Emory (GA) at 1 p.m. followed by the Flyers and Anne Arundel CC (MD) at 3 p.m. In Friday's exciting opening game, Anne Arundel (1-1) defeated Oxford Emory (1-1) 73-72 in overtime.
McDougald accounted for eight of the points in the opening burst with a pair threes and a slick finish in transition. Later, leading 16-4, sophomore Alon Hanani played a big part in a 12-5 run, turning a steal into a three-point play by Joey McMullin and then scoring three times in a row on drives to the basket.
The Flyers sank nine threes in all on the way to a 70-29 lead at the intermission, including two by sophomore Sam Stoltz.
In a game that the Flyers committed only nine turnovers, the offensive efficiency continued throughout the second half. They reached the 100 mark with just under 10 minutes remaining on another basket by Stoltz. Chad Kinch, a freshman guard from Southern Durham High School, was 5-for-5 from the field and scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half.
The other Flyers, scoring in double-figures were Kendall Wooldridge and McMullin with 12 apiece, and Hanani and Jaquan Thurman with 10 each.
Hanani, who is from Nir David, Israel, also handed out three assists in his most productive game as a Flyer. His contributions in the transition game helped the break the game open early. He hasn't forgotten that Saturday's opponent, Anne Arundel, defeated the Flyers 82-75 exactly one year ago at The Hangar.
"I felt comfortable today," he said afterward. "I think the guys believe in me and really let me play my game. We have a lot of sophomores this year. We're starting to get along with each other and everyone is sticking with coach's plan. I think in the long term we're going to be really good."
One of the Flyers feeling the best about the game was Jamal Williams, a 6-foot-7 forward who missed all of last season after tearing an ACL prior to the start of his freshman year. He ran the court well, finishing with six points, four rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot in a productive five minutes of action.
"All of the reps we do in practice are always at game speed so I think that really got me prepared to come out and play at the speed I was able to play tonight," the Mount Pleasant High School grad said.
"I think the best thing about tonight was the way we merged together and were all playing team ball. There were a lot of assists – a lot of one more pass before the shot."
Shooting4Greatness – Price 16 5-9 40, Cuffie 0 1-2 1, Pouler 2 0-2 4, Palmer 2 1-5 6, Cowan 3 2-3 9, Goldsmith 1 0-0 2, Smith 2 1-3 5, Solomon 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 10-24 67. Sandhills – McDougald 5 0-0 14, Coleman 0 1-2 1, Thurman 3 4-6 10, McMullin 5 1-1 12, Quiller 8 0-1 16, Kinch 5 2-3 13, Wooldridge 5 0-0 12, Hanani 5 0-0 10, Robinson 4 2-2 11, Stoltz 3 0-0 8, Gittens 3 0-0 6, Williams 3 0-0 6, Sledge 1 1-2 3, Leslie 3 2-4 8 Totals 53 13-21 130. Three-point goals: S4G 5 (Price 3, Palmer, Cowan); SCC 11 (McDougald 4, Stoltz 2, Wooldridge 2, McMullin, Kinch, Robinson).
C. Bergmann