An important element of the “Perfect Storm” that Sandhills Flyers’ coach Mike Apple credited with making his team’s NJCAA Division III national championship run possible can be found in Saturday’s first-half box score.

The 101-86 victory over Cedar Valley College of Lancaster, Texas, in the title game at Sullivan County CC in New York was the Flyers’ 11th in a row and made them national champions in just the fourth year of the program’s existence.

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SCC Flyers: National Champions

Action from the Flyers 85-84 overtime victory against the Bronx CC Broncos in the semifinals, as well as their 101-86 "Perfect Storm" victory in the NJCAA Division III title tilt over Cedar Valley. SCC's Daquain Towns was named tournament MVP, while Mike Apple was honored as the event’s top coach. Photos by Donna Ford.

When Michael Collins canned a jumper to give his team a 36-32 lead with 7:43 remaining in the first half, he became the 11th Flyer to get into the scoring column. Determined to outrun and eventually wear out a Sun squad that prided itself on playing the same tune, no Flyer logged more than 26 minutes, and 10 saw 10 or more minutes of action in the game.

Overall the Flyer non-starters outscored their Cedar Valley counterparts 54-16. For the seven postseason contests, the average production off the bench was 47 points compared with more than 50 during the regular season in part because of lower scoring games. The Flyers completed the season with a 30-6 mark, including winning 15 of their last 16 games.

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SCC Flyers: Round One Thriller

A buzzer-beater released by Daquain Towns with .01 seconds remaining on the clock found the bottom the net to give Sandhills an unforgettable 93-92 first-round victory over top-ranked Brookdale Community College, Thursday in the the NJCAA Divsion III national basketball tournament. The Flyers face Bronx CC in the semifinals today at 7 p.m. Photos by Donna Ford.

Putting the outcome of games in the hands of so many players from game one of the season to the elimination contests in three tournaments in a row provided the team with some powerfully positive messages. It comes from a coaching philosophy Apple also employed during his years as a high school coach at Western Harnett and Pinecrest.

“We want to play a 94-foot game offensively and defensively,” the coach says. “That requires people playing as hard as they can. With that philosophy you have to play a lot of people.”

Carrying 15 or so players on a roster can be a challenge for coaches — dealing with athletes that naturally want to get into games.

“I don’t want to have a bunch of guys that don’t think they have a chance to play,” he says. “Making players feel part of the team also makes practice more competitive. I don’t have fillers. By the end of the year you have them ready.”

The all-sophomore starting lineup of Collins, Markell Lotharp, Pinecrest grad Daquain Towns and Jack Britt products Louis Craft and Trevor Cole was capable of running or playing good half-court basketball. But five minutes into the national title game, the Flyers trailed 14-7 after a basket by the Suns’ standout point guard Jade Allen.

That is about the time Apple typically makes his first substitutions. The insertion of 5-foot-4 Dre Huntley and sophomore Raheem Washington, along with 6-6 Erick Ewing for Craft, and the other changes that follow, make the Flyers whippet fast. Raheem Jolliffe, another former Jack Britt player, usually makes his entrance around the 14-minute mark, and his three cut the Sun lead to 19-18.

Tramaine Pride, at 24 the oldest player on the Flyers, also played for Apple at Pinecrest. The 6-3 forward had only scored two points in the previous two games when he came on to convert two putbacks in a row to give his team a 25-23 lead it would never relinquish.

More production off the bench by way of a drive for two and then a three by sophomore T.J. Jones made it 30-25. Late in a 17-0 run that helped the Flyers take a 54-37 lead into the intermission, Jones fed Pride for what turned out to be a three-point play.

“Good timing. I guess,” Pride said after making a huge contribution with nine points and seven rebounds overall. “It’s part of being unselfish. The young guys are playing better so they get to play more. I was on today so Coach kept going with it. I thank God for the opportunity to play for my old coach and finally get him a championship.”

A putback by Lotharp with 7:33 remaining in the game gave the Flyers their biggest lead at 87-61. A 23-point second half by Bakari Turner, who signed with Baylor in 2009 before going the junior college route to qualify academically, was not enough to rescue the Suns. But he did contribute to a 21-5 run that brought them to within 91-82 with 1:39 remaining.

Jolliffe, who scored 35 points off the bench in a game last month, nixed any further notions by the Suns with a three off Huntley’s 12th assist of the game. Freshman Chris Vinson put the Flyers over the century mark for the 14th time in the season with a pair of free throws.

Freshman T.J. Gill, who made a pair of free throws late in the game, was one of 13 Flyers to get into the scoring column. Freshman Chris Morrison also saw action. Hampered by turnovers and foul trouble in one-point wins over New York City area teams Brookdale CC of New Jersey and Bronx CC on Thursday and Friday, the Flyers somehow put it all together in the title game. Towns was named tournament MVP, and Lotharp also made the all-tournament squad.

“We talked about getting off to a good start, keep pushing and don’t let up,” said Lotharp, one of a half-dozen or so Flyers likely to have the opportunity to finish their careers at a four-year school. “Cover their shooters, rebound and run, the thing we do best.”

Or as SCC President Dr. John Dempsey put it after the game, “I remember Nolan Richardson (Arkansas) talking about 40 minutes of hell. And that’s what we gave them tonight.”

Four years ago, sharpshooting Germann Bostic helped put a fledging Flyer program led by athletic director Aaron Denton on the map with two All-America seasons. Apple, who was assisted by Bryon Gaddy, Tony Chapman and trainer Chris Peterkin, said another part of the “perfect storm” was the blooming of the eight players from Denton’s 2010-11 squad that won the Region X regular-season title while finishing 24-7.

“Coach Denton had really left some good players this year,” Apple said. “I think they bought in and understood what we were trying to do with them. They didn’t always like what we wanted them to do, but they could always see the treasure at the end of the rainbow.”

Sandhills 54 47 — 101

Cedar Valley 37 49 — 86

Sandhills: Michael Collins 2 0-0 5, Daquain Towns 6 6-7 18, Trevor Cole 1 0-0 3, Louis Craft 3 3-5 9, Markell Lotharp 5 0-0 12, T.J.Gill 0 2-2 2, Raheem Jolliffe 5 2-4 15, Dre Huntley 3 2-4 8, Chris Vinson 0 2-2 2, Raheem Washington 1 0-0 2, T.J. Jones 3 1-4 8, Tramaine Pride 4 1-3 9, Erick Ewing 3 2-2 8, Chris Morrison 0 0-0 0. Totals 36 21-33 101.

Cedar Valley: Jade Allen 7 5-8 20, Bakari Turner 13 6-10 37, Roman Walker 3 0-0 7, James Moody 1 0-0 2, Justin Jones 2 0-2 4, Jonathan Martin 2 0-0 5, Sheldon Petterway 0 0-0 0, Chris Waller 1 2-3 4,Chad Williams 3 1-1 7, Junior Mitchell 0 0-0 0, Eliot Mills 0 0-0 0. Totals 32 14-24 86.

Three-point goals: (S) 8 (Jolliffe 3, Lotharp 2, Collins, Cole, Jones); (C ) 8 (Turner 5, Allen, Walker, Martin).