Flyers Nipped by Hurricanes - Begin Five-Game Homestand on Wednesday Against Johnston CC
The Sandhills Community College basketball team will be looking to shake off Saturday's 72-71 loss at Paul D. Camp and use an upcoming five-game homestand to gain some ground in the NJCAA Region 10 standings.
The Flyers take an overall record of 9-7, and a 2-2 mark in the conference, into Wednesday's 7 p.m. contest at The Hangar against a Division II Johnston Community College squad that is off to a 3-6 start.
Three of the following four home games are against Region 10 teams, beginning with Virginia Peninsula CC in a 1 p.m. tip-off on Saturday. Patrick Henry currently leads Region 10 with a record of 3-1 followed by Camp, 3-2, the Flyers and Mountain Gateway 2-2, Virginia Peninsula 1-1 and Oxford Emory 0-3.
All of the teams will be seeking to position themselves for the Region 10 tournament scheduled to be hosted by the Flyers in late February.
In Franklin, VA on Saturday, the Flyers led a Camp squad they defeated 114-107 at home back in November 41-36 at halftime. In a low-scoring back and forth second half, they trailed the Hurricanes 72-69 with two minutes remaining in the game. Jamori McDougald, who led the Flyers with 21 points, including six treys, was fouled as he drove for two, but missed the free throw.
There was no further scoring as the Flyers called a timeout with the ball and eight seconds remaining, but missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer.
The Flyers connected on a season-low 35.6 per cent of their shots from the field.
Coach Mike Apple is hoping the slate of home games and less travel will help a squad that was set back by the flu bug before the holidays, and averages over 90 points per game, can get back to playing at its customary high tempo and regain some consistency.
"We were unable to get the job done so that's frustrating", Apple said upon his return to the college later on Saturday. "We're still kind of a team in flux. Chad Kinch did a great job for us before Christmas and he has a knee issue that limited his play today. Jamori was out before Christmas from having the flu and is just now getting back in shape.
"We've got to force the tempo on teams. We did not do that today and that's one of the reasons why the score was so low compared to the last time we played them."
Kinch, a sophomore, who played his best basketball as a Flyer, averaging 13 points per game over the previous four outings, was limited to 10 minutes of action on Saturday and did not score. Freshman Damien Robinson, who is averaging 16.1 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, scored 16 points and grabbed nine boards. He is eighth in Division III with a field goal percentage of 66.9 and ninth in rebounds per game at 12.6. Sophomore Ayden Gittens is the team's leading scorer at 17.8 points per game.
"Damien Robinson has done a fantastic job for us," Apple said. "We've got a lot of guys that are really wanting to contribute. We've got to get back to the gym and continue working hard on some things I certainly think we're capable of doing, but don't do all the time. The hope is that our best basketball is still ahead of us."
C. Bergmann