Flyers Fall to Joliet in NJCAA Tournament Opener
An ice-cold shooting Sandhills Community College basketball team was defeated 77-49 by Joliet CC (IL) in one of Wednesday's opening round games of the NJCAA Division III National Championships held in Rockford, IL.
The Flyers made only two baskets in the first eight minutes of the game on the way to falling behind 38-24 at the intermission. Three treys by the Wolves' Joel Watts fueled a 13-4 run that expanded the deficit to 51-28 with 16 minutes remaining in the game.
The Flyers were never able to get any closer than 17 points after that. They made just 27 per cent of their shots from the field in the game and were only 3-for-20 from beyond the arc.
Coach Mike Apple's seventh-seeded squad (26-8) meets Community College Of Philadelphia (19-7), the No. 11 seed, in 1 p.m. consolation game on Thursday before heading home.
No. 10 Joliet (27-4) takes on No. 2 Genesee CC (22-4) in a quarterfinal contest at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
"We just weren't prepared," the Flyers' coach said afterward. "Hat's off to Joliet. They played a tight man-to-man defense that really took away our cuts to the rim. We had to settle for jump shots and they didn't go in. We didn't defend or rebound very well either."
Freshman Kendall Wooldridge with 14 points was the only double-figures scorer for the Flyers. Watts led the Wolves with 15.
Earlier on Wednesday, Philadelphia was defeated 81-67 by Dallas-Eastfield.
Joliet – Watts 6-11 0-0 15, T. Johnson 5 1-1 12, Morrow 6 1-3 13, Jones 5 3-5 13, Shoemaker 2 2-2 7, Johnson 2 0-1 5, Wozniak 1 0-0 2, Jackson 2 2-2 6, Elliott 1 0-0 2, Bexson 1 0-0 2, A. Johnson 0 0-0 0, Acosta 0 0-0 0 Totals 31 9-14 77. Sandhills – Wooldridge 6 0-1 14, Hunter 0 0-4 0, McCaster 4 0-0 8, Sledge 2 0-2 4, Quiller 3 3-4 9, Perry 1 0-0 2, Hanani 0 0-0 0, Coleman 0 1-2 1, Stoltz 0 0-0 0, McMullin 2 0-0 4, Zachary 1 2-2 4, Nelson 1 0-0 3 Totals 20 6-15 49. Three-point goals: SCC 3 (Wooldridge 2, Nelson); JCC 6 (Watts 3, T. Johnson, Shoemaker, J. Johnson).
C. Bergmann
