Post Season Play Looms for Flyers following Sophomore Night Success
Blue Lights College trailed No. 1 ranked Sandhills Community College by just one point early in the second half of Monday's Sophomore Night clash at The Hangar.
Sayaun Dent, the Flyers' leading scorer this season, was held to four points in the first half, but in a span of three minutes early in the second he exploded for 11. Coach Mike Apple's squad went on from there to build as much as a 21-point lead on the way to a 106-92 victory.
"In the first part of the second half, Sayaun was really good and he made some tough baskets," the Flyers' coach said of the 6-foot-3 sophomore. "I think we needed some adversity and I thought we faced some adversity tonight. Hopefully we'll be better for it."
Before the largest crowd of the season, seven sophomores were honored before the game, including Elijah Idlett whose all-around effort produced a team-high 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, five steals and a blocked shot. Dent finished with 19 points and another sophomore, Tyrell Allmond, chipped in with 13 points, eight boards and three assists.
The Flyers take a record of 28-2 (6-0 conference), and a 12-game winning streak, into Saturday's 1 p.m. Region 10 tournament game at The Hangar against Johnston CC (10-15, 1-5). Central Carolina CC and Oxford Emory meet at 3:30 p.m. The two winners advance to the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Thoroughbreds Come to Play
Another soph, Niem Ratliff, helped the Flyers get off to a strong start, driving for the first basket of the game and later draining a three for a 9-3 lead. But the squad from the police prep college in Apex responded with a 10-2 run to take its first lead at 13-11.
"They (Blue Lights) came out and played hard," Idlett said. "They didn't care if it was Sophomore Night."
The Thoroughbreds were ahead 38-35 with just under four minutes remaining in the half before a jumper from the side by Derreco Miller sparked a 12-4 run that gave the home team a 47-42 advantage at the intermission.
Freshman Corry Addison, who finished with 15 points, turned a steal into a three-point play to begin the second half, but the visitors closed to within one before Dent's spree began with a long jumper.
"Coach told me at halftime that I needed to play my game and pick it up on offense so that's what I tried to do," the product of West Bladen High School said.
A three by sophomore Winston Bryan made it 83-69 at the midway point of the half. Later, the margin grew to 20 points after Allmond split a pair of free throws, making it 98-78. The Flyers reached the century mark for the 22nd time this season when Idlett missed a three-point attempt, but somehow beat everyone to the rebound and finished it underneath the basket.
"Always follow your shot," he said afterward. "I knew it was coming off so I had to go get it."
Said Apple, "Elijah has been doing it for us all year. He plays real hard and he saves us from ourselves a lot of times when we're not playing very well. Tyrell didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but he's such a competitor.
"Cameron Williams (sophomore) did a lot of nice things and I thought he played pretty good defense on No. 12 (Jawan Browder) late in the game. We got some good things from a lot of folks tonight."
Minnesota on the Mind
A Region 10 tournament title this weekend, followed by a win in the district championship game on February 29, will take the Flyers back to Rochester, MN for another shot at the program's second national title. They finished in fifth place there a year ago.
"The idea of going back to Minnesota was so strong early in the year with Evan (Davis), Elijah, Sayaun and the others," Apple recalled. "They'd all been there and they all wanted to get back there.
"I think the sophomores have done a good job of leading and making everyone understand it was about focusing on the journey more than about the destination, especially at this time of the year. You have to concentrate on the fundamentals and playing the right way and they've done a good job at that.
"The playing time for some of them fluctuated and I'm so proud of how they handled it and improved."
Prior to the tip-off, the sophomores, accompanied by family members, were introduced. Each received a large framed action photo taken by photographer Donna Ford during the season.
Allmond a Pinecrest High School grad had 11 people by his side.
"Since I live close to here, I get a lot of support and I just love it," he said. "They've been coming to my games since I was in the eighth grade."
As a red-shirt last season after playing at Finger Lakes CC in New York as a freshman, Idlett was a spectator in Minnesota a year ago.
"Being here is probably the best thing that ever happened to me," he said. "I love the people here. They like the way I play and that means a lot to me. We've probably got the best record in Sandhills history and we're going to keep working hard to see how far we can go."
Blue Lights – Allicott 2 3-3 7, Dickey 5 4-6 14, Anderson 4 0-0 11, Ezzell 5 2-2 14, Williams 9 3-3 21, Jamison 4 1-2 9, Browder 5 0-0 13, Yak 1 1-2 3, Baker 0 0-0 0 Totals 35 14-18 92. Sandhills – Ratliffe 3 0-0 8, Allmond 5 3-6 13, Dent 8 2-3 19, Bryan 3 0-0 7, Williams 2 2-2 6, Idlett 6 8-8 20, Yow 2 0-0 5, Bailey 0 0-0 0, Addison 7 1-1 15, Miller 4 2-4 10, Richardson 1 0-0 3, Davis 0 0-0 0, Medins 0 0-0 0 Totals 41 18-24 106. Three-point goals: BLC 8 (Anderson 3, Browder 3, Ezzell 2); SCC 6 (Ratliffe 2, Yow, Richardson, Dent, Bryan).
C. Bergmann
Photo By Donna Ford