Flyers Ride Strong Second Half Against the Hawks Into the Final Four
The Sandhills Community College basketball team advanced to the semi-final round of the NJCAA Division III National Championship with a 92-85 quarterfinal victory over Mohawk Valley CC on Thursday afternoon in Herkimer, NY.
Trailing the No. 9 seeded Hawks 33-32 at the intermission, the No. 1 Flyers broke a 44-44 tie early in the second half on a jumper by Kendall Wooldridge and went on to build as much as a nine-point advantage. The Hawks closed to within four points in the final minute of the game before Wooldridge and Jaquan Thurman combined to go 5-for-6 from the charity stripe to seal the deal.
The win was the 17th in a row for the Flyers who were led by Thurman with 19 points, on his birthday. Other double-figures scorers for the winners were Wooldridge with 13 points, Jordan Coleman and Zac Sledge with 12, and LeNijel Robinson with 11. Jordan Drain topped the Hawks, now 27-4, with 18.
Coach Mike Apple's squad (29-3) faces No. 5 seed Northampton CC (30-3) of Allentown (PA), a 69-67 winner over No. 4 Northern Essex (MA), at 5 p.m. on Friday. That winner advances to the championship contest at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Region 10 Player of the Year Bryan Quiller picked up two quick fouls and played only two minutes of the first half for the Flyers. The Hawks from nearby Rome, NY, managed to take a lead into the intermission in spite of committing 19 turnovers.
"I think it was the jitters and the nerves," Apple said of a first half in which the Flyers committed 11 turnovers and made only 36 per cent of their shots, including 0-for-8 from behind the arc. "We were fortunate to be only down one point."
Trailing 36-32 early in the second half, three quick baskets by Coleman helped get the Flyers' offense going, leading up to the basket by Wooldridge that broke the final tie of the game. Later consecutive baskets by Joey McMullin and Wooldridge upped the lead to 54-47.
Thurman spun inside for two, making it 81-73 with 3:30 remaining. His jumper from the corner with the shot clock winding down at the one-minute mark helped hold off a final Hawks' rally. That led up to the clutch free throw shooting by he and Wooldridge in the final 29.1 seconds of the game.
"We played quality basketball in the second half," Apple said. "Jaquan got really aggressive down low and Kendall made some shots that were timely."
Friday's other two semi-finalists were to come from the winners of games played at 6 p.m. Thursday evening between No. 2 seed Dallas North Lake and No. 10 Rochester (MN), and at 8 p.m. between No. 11 seed Dupage (IL) and No. 3 Brookdale (NJ).
When the Flyers arrived in New York on Monday, Apple estimated there were about 10 inches of snow on the ground which melted down to about four inches by Thursday. Besides the victory, the day turned out to be extra special for Lenijel Robinson. Watching the game was his grandfather, Ray Patterson, who he had never met before.
C. Bergmann
