DCCC Storm Down Belmont Abbey Crusaders JV

It was nice to get back home to Brinkley Gym last night. We have been on the road for the past two of the last three games and suffered losses in each of those game. Last night we played our sixth game. I'm sure most fans were nervous seeing three of our best players not even dressed out (Phillip Williams - tonsil infection; Justin Glover - knee injury; Kimani Hunt - ankle sprain), but the coaches and player knew everyone had to elevate their level of play. Once the game tipped off, the Storm was off and running. Last season's leading scorer Roderick Geter got hot early, making five out of seven threes in the first half. His shooting helped the Storm build a considerable lead that they never relinquished. The Storm built up a lead of 30 points by the second half. Eric Potts played exceptional on both ends of the courts. He finished with a double-double (11 points, 14 rebounds). Our bench provided excellent energy both on the sideline and when they entered the game. Everyone on the team got to play in last night's victory! The final score: Storm 94, Crusaders 75.

Leading Scorers: Roderick Geter (24), AJ Finney (12), Bryan Roberts (12), Eric Potts (11)
Leading Rebounders: Eric Potts (14), Zack Williams (6), Bryan Roberts (5)
Assist Leader: Derrick Mayo (7), AJ Finney (6)

Final thoughts: We still need to continue improving on many aspects of the game. We need to continue working on crisp passing, taking care of the basketball, free throw shooting and other various fundamentals. We will continue to work diligently on and improve these aspects of the game.

The Storm is now 3-3. We head to Tidewater Community College this weekend to play in a tournament. We will be playing Tidewater CC and CCBC - Dundalk. Until then...

GO STORM!!

Time To Play Catch Up

Since my last post, the Storm has played four games. We played some REALLY good competition in those games. In those games we went 1-3. We were in all of these games, but a few mental mistakes cost us a couple of victories. Some highlights and thoughts on each.

DCCC v. Louisburg College JV
Final Score: 94 - 67 (W)

The Storm had a lead of eight at half with only one lead change coming in the first minutes of the game. We still need to take better care of the basketball; 24 turnovers just won't cut it if we want to compete for a championship!

Leading Scorers: Kimani Hunt (16), Justin Glover (15), Zack Williams (12), Eric Potts (12), Tim Simpson (10)
Leading Rebounders: Zack Williams (7), Eric Potts (6), Tim Simpson (5)
Assist Leaders: Phillip Williams (6), Rico Geter (5)

DCCC at Pitt CC

This game was truly a heart breaker. I'll go ahead and fast forward to the end. We were down by one with 6.6 seconds on the clock. We fouled Pitt's worst free throw shooter. Coach Ridge called a time out, drew up a play he wanted the players to run after grabbing the rebound. Pitt missed the lay up, the Storm players did a poor job blocking out and another Pitt player rebounded the miss. We had to foul again. Pitt hit the first free throw and missed the second. Pitt did not put anyone else on the lane, but one of Pitt's most aggressive players came flying into the lane and grabbed the rebound. We had to foul him. He knocked down both free throws. The Storm lost 74-70. What a tough loss! We really need to focus on our mental toughness in must-win situations. Overall though, I'm really proud of our guys. We competed against a well coached Division II JUCO.

*Game report to come

DCCC at GTCC

*Game report to come

DCCC at UNC JV

I have to say it was a dream come true getting to coach at the Dean Dome. It is a place where some of the greatest basketball players and coaches have played and coach. Our team competed very hard. We weren't very crisp in the first half, but were able to go into half down eight points. We competed in the second half very well. Our guys left everything on the floor. We were the toughest team UNC JV had played to date. We led by one with about five minutes to go, alternated the lead several times, but in the end lost by 11. Turnovers and missed layups killed us in this game. We had 28 turnovers for the game (only 12 assist) and several missed layups down the stretch. Unfortunately, one of our best players, Justin Glover, injured his knee in the second half of the game. We're hoping for a good report though! On a positive note though, I feel this game was the first one our guys truly began to buy into what the coaches preach every day at practice. If we keep up our efforts we may be able to do some really special things!

Final Score: Storm 69, UNC JV Tar Heels 81
Overall Record: 2-3

Leading Scorers: Justin Glover (18), Roderick Geter (15), AJ Finney (11), Eric Potts (11)
Leading Rebounders: Justin Glover (8), Eric Potts (7), Zack Williams (5)

GO STORM!

DCCC v. Wytheville CC

The DCCC Storm defeated Wytheville CC (WCC) in its season opener on Sunday, November 1. The final score was 90-82. Our men were excited to get the season underway. For a select few (Phillip Williams, Eric Potts and Rico Geter), it was the beginning of their sophomore season; for the rest of the team, it was the beginning of their college careers. Our guys used the crowd's energy and their excitement to jump out to an early lead in the first half (21-9). The first game jitters and mistakes caught up with us as WCC stayed poised and chipped away at the deficit until WCC took a 34-30 lead, which they took into the half. After Coach Ridge delivered a very pointed halftime speech, our guys went out in the second half and played tougher. WCC was excited to be in the game and continued to play well, but in the end, the Storm was victorious. The team won with a final score of 90-82. Rico Geter was our team's leading scorer finishing with 19. Zack Williams (17), Justin Glover (15) and Phillip Williams (13) also contributed major point contributions to our team's victory. Also, I wanted to congratulate Kimani for his efforts on the boards! He finished with 10! Keep up the great effort guys!

GO STORM!!