Brayboy Leads the Way as Flyers Ease By Patriots
In his third year as a member of the Sandhills Community College basketball team, including one as a red-shirt, Keegan Brayboy had never played the point-guard position.
Inserted into that role by Coach Mike Apple for Wednesday's game against Patrick Henry CC, the 6-foot-3 product of Red Springs High School scored eight points and dished out a team-high eight assists without committing a single turnover.
After overcoming an early 5-0 deficit, the Flyers never trailed again on the way to a 95-77 victory at The Hangar over the Division II team from Martinsville, VA. They improved to 6-4 while the Patriots dropped to 3-3.
Nasir Johnson was 8-for-11 from the field and scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the second half to help the home team pull away. All 12 Flyers that saw action made it into the scoring column.
The Flyers play at home again at 3 p.m. on Saturday when they meet a 25th ranked in Division I Caldwell Tech team that is off to a 7-0 start.
A wing throughout his career with the Flyers, Brayboy was a spectator in his red-shirt season when they won the Division III national championship. He was a key member of last season's squad that finished in sixth place at the Division II national tournament.
"Keegan knows what we want offensively right now better than anyone else on our team," Apple said afterward. "He's kind of a settling force and I think that made a big difference in our game tonight."
Darryl McCaster, a 6-1 transfer from St. Andrews, provided the Flyers with an early spark at both ends of the court. With his team trailing 5-1, he had a pair of steals and two baskets during an 8-0 run. On the second steal he passed the ball to Brayboy who fed Zac Sledge for a thunderous dunk and a 9-5 lead.
McCaster totaled eight points and five rebounds as the Flyers went on to take a 46-41 lead into the intermission.
"Darryl is really good on the offensive backboards," Apple said. "He felt it tonight and played good defense as well."
The visitors rallied to tie the game for the only time in the second half at 58-58 with 14 minutes remaining in the game. They were still within five points at the seven-minute mark when baskets by Isaiah Nelson and Justice Asante triggered a game-closing 17-4 run that also included a three-point play by Johnson.
Brayboy capped his debut at the point by feeding teammate Joey McMullin for the final basket of the evening.
"I could see that some of their players were kind of tired," Brayboy said. "I knew if we could get some stops and score we were going to get them. When we play hard we're always going to have a chance."
He thinks point guard is his natural position and didn't find the change in position that difficult.
"The wings and guards have to do the same things in practice and we all have to handle the ball," he said. "I'll play forward if they want me to. I like to help in any way I can."
The team effort included 10 points and five boards from Asante off the bench. Backing up Brayboy at point guard, Chris Hunter was credited with seven assists. Sledge added nine points, four rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot.
"We played outstanding defense tonight, better than in any game this year," Sledge said.
Apple was pleased with how much his players were into the game and the the way they communicated on defense. The Flyers won the battle on the boards 51-34, allowing the Patriots only 10 second-chance points.
"Every night you take the court you either get better or get worse," he said. "We got better tonight. We just have to keep getting better. We've got a big, big test on Saturday."
Patrick Henry – Cozart 3 3-3 9, Ferrell 3 0-0 7, Davis 3 1-3 7, Gvalia 2 0-0 5, Lambert 4 3-4 13, Harrington 4 2-2 11, Raven 1 0-0 3, Boozer 6 4-6 18, Giebel 0 0-0 0, Roc 2 0-0 4 Totals 28 13-18 77. Sandhills – Brayboy 3 2-3 8, McCaster 5 1-2 11, Stoltz 2 2-4 7, Sledge 4 1-2 9, Nelson 3 2-2 8, Wooldridge 1 0-0 3, Johnson 8 1-1 17, Perry 2 1-1 5, Hunter 1 2-4 4, Coleman 2 0-0 4, McMullin 3 3-4 9, Asante 5 0-0 10 Totals 39 15-23 95. Three-point goals: PH 8 (Lambert 2, Boozer 2, Ferrell, Gvalia, Harrington, Raven); SCC 2 (Stoltz, Wooldridge).
C. Bergmann
