Flyers Defeat Riverhawks With Another High Intensity Performance
For the second day in a row the Sandhills Community College basketball team jumped out to an early double-digit lead and never let up on the way to a 110-80 victory over Anne Arundel CC at The Hangar on Saturday afternoon.
The Flyers were led in the scoring column by sophomores Joey McMullin with 19 points, Bryan Quiller with 18, and freshman Jamori McDougald with 15. The trio combined to make 20 of their 28 shots from the field. As a team the winners were also a tidy 27-for-35 from the charity stripe (77.1 per cent).
Coupled with Friday's 130-67 win over Shooting4Greatness, the Flyers improved to 3-0 while the Riverhawks from Arnold, MD dropped to 1-2. Coach Mike Apple's squad is scheduled to play its fourth home game in a row on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Guilford Tech (1-0).
In Saturday's opener of day two of the Chatlee Marine Classic, Oxford Emory defeated Shooting4Greatness 76-52.
Apple described his team's play in the two games as agendaless basketball as his players unselfishly prioritized seeking the best shots for the team over their own shots.
"Moving the ball, hitting the open man," the coach said," when you get guys buying into that it's really good. I thought Jordan Coleman did a great job of moving the basketball today and Jamori McDougald gets better everyday doing that kind of stuff."
As he did the day before against S4G, McDougald clicked early, sinking a pair of threes and recording two assists as the Flyers jumped out to a 15-4 lead. Quiller poured in 13 points as the lead grew to 51-34 at the intermission.
Afterward, Quiller talked about the team's mindset since the start of the regular season.
"Mainly the coaches are telling us to stay consistent and keep up the pace," he said. "If we're up by 15 or 30 by halftime, it's always zero to zero to start the second half. As long as we do that it's hard to stop us."
The second half began with an 11-3 run that included drive for two by McDougald, a pair of free throws by Jaquan Thurman and a dunk in transition by Quiller, from McMullin, that helped increase the margin to a comfortable 25 points. The Riverhawks never got closer than 21 points the rest of the way.
McDougald, who played high school basketball at Overhills, scored five points and was credited with one assist in the Flyers' opening win over Lenior CC. In the last two games he has scored a combined 29 points, gone 7-for-9 from beyond the arc and handed out six assists.
"Coach Apple kept telling me to keep playing my game so I stayed with it," he said. "I felt we played real well, moving the ball and playing good defense. That was the secret for us today."
For the second game in a row, sophomore LeNijel Robinson, a 5-foot-11 guard, led the team in rebounds with eight after grabbing 11 on Friday. The assist leaders were Coleman with seven and McMullin with five.
In his third season with the Flyers via an additional season of eligibility due to Covid, Quiller has been to the national tournament twice. This time he wants more.
"The ring, the national championship ring, that's what we're striving for," he said. "That's what we're going hard at practice for. That's what brings all the energy and intensity out on the court. Hey, this team is full of talent. This is a national championship team."
Anne Arundel – Stroman 7 3-5 20, Norton 8 8-12 27, Duffy 2 2-5 6, Carroll 2 3-4 7, James 0 0-0 0, Thomas 5 0-2 13, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Anderson 1 0-2 2, Augusterfer 1 2-2 5 Totals 26 18-32 80. Sandhills – McDougald 6 0-0 15, Coleman 2 1-1 5, Thurman 3 3-4 9, McMullin 8 2-2 19, Quiller 6 6-8 18, Kinch 1 1-2 3, Wooldridge 4 3-4 12, Hanani 0 0-0 0, Robinson 3 3-4 9, Stoltz 2 0-0 4, Gittens 0 2-2 2, Williams 0 0-0 0, Sledge 2 2-4 6, Leslie 2 4-4 8 Totals 39 27-35 110. Three-point goals: AACC 10 (Stroman 3, Norton 3, Thomas 3, Augusterfer); SCC 5 McDouald 3, McMullin, Wooldridge).
C. Bergmann