The Sandhills Flyers broke open a close game late in the first half and went on to defeat Central Carolina CC 115-90 in Sanford Wednesday evening.

The two teams traded baskets for about the first 10 minutes as coach Mike Apple’s squad established a strong inside presence with the scoring of 6-foot-10 Louis Craft and 6-6 Markell Lotharp. That set the stage for a run that gave the visitors a 64-41 halftime lead.

“We just kind of exploded at the 10-minute mark,” Apple said. “It was as good a run as I’ve been a part of.”

Seven players scored in double figures for the Flyers, led by Lotharp with 17 points. Michael Collins, Daquain Towns and Craft notched a dozen each, Raheem Washington scored 11, while Raheem Jolliffe and Dre Huntley each added 10.

Against a team that defeated first place in Region X and highly-ranked Davidson County CC last week, everything fell in place for the Flyers. The success scoring inside contributed to a seven-for-15 shooting night from beyond the arc, led by Collins and Huntley with two treys apiece. Overall, the Flyers were 49-for-86 from the field (57 percent).

Craft finished with 14 rebounds and Huntley handed out eight of the team’s 33 assists. Hoke County product Tim Haggie and Montel Williams led the Cougars with 20 points each.

The Flyers head into Saturday’s 3 p.m. contest at The O’Neal School gym against Caldwell County CC with a record of 18-5, including a 2-2 mark in Region X. Caldwell (2-2, 15-5) defeated the Flyers 96-91 three weeks ago. Central Carolina dropped to 11-10 and 1-3.

Sandhills 64 51 — 115

Central Carolina 41 49 — 90

Sandhills: Collins 5 0-0 12, Towns 5 2-2 12, Cole 1 0-0 2, Craft 6 0-2 12, Lotharp 7 2-4 17, Gill 3 2-2 8, Jolliffe 4 1-2 10, Morrison 0 0-0 0, Huntley 4 0-0 10, Vinson 1 0-0 2, Washington 5 1-2 11, Jones 2 0-0 5, Pride 3 2-2 8, Ewing 3 0-1 6. Totals 49 10-17 115.

Central Carolina: Haggie 8 4-6 20, Hardy 4 2-2 11, Williams 7 3-5 20, Black 4 2-4 12, Clegg 5 3-6 13, Ervin 2 0-0 4, Bailey 4 2-7 10. Totals 34 16-30 90.

Three-point goals: S 7 (Collins 2, Huntley 2, Jolliffe, Jones, Lotharp); CC 6 (Williams 3, Black 2, Hardy).