On Wednesday, Feb.15, Sinclair faced Edison Community College in the second of the two Pink Zone games to raise funds for breast cancer awareness.
The game fitted to be an outstanding display of athleticism by both squads.
The leading scorer in the game was Edison’s Lamont Cole with 31 points, but Sinclair had an answer to counter his high-scoring game.
Three Tartan Pride players scored more than 20 points as the Pride handled the Chargers 101-88.
Forward JaBriel Coaston led the Tartans with 26 points, with 16 coming in the first half. The 26 points are a season high for Coaston. Price said he was proud of the way Coaston is playing.
“He’s starting to become a dual-threat player,” Price said.
Right behind him were point guard Charlie Byers and forward Jonathan Bibbs chipping in with 25 and 24 respectively. Price gave praise to both Bibbs and Byers, comparing Bibbs to a young Charles Barkley and crediting Byers for his clutch shooting.
“If we are in a slump we know we can lean on Charlie to get a bucket,” Price said.
Free throws turned out to be a huge part of the game again as the team shot 84.8 percent on 28 of 33 shooting from the foul line. Price said the consistency comes from routine practice on a daily basis.
“We track how many free throws we’ve shot all year,” Price said. “So far in practice we’ve shot over 26,000 free throws. It’s like the old saying, ‘Act like you’ve been there before,’ and well–we’ve been there 26,000 times.”
Sinclair rests in sixth place in conference standing at 2-6 for the season. The standings are disappointing but Price still sees his team improving from game-to-game.
“We’ve been playing with a lot more confidence and a lot more continuity,” Price said.
So much confidence in fact, even alley-oop attempts are going in as three-point passes. An attempted alley-oop from Byers to Gavin Schumann in the second half was sure to set the crowd into an uproar, but instead, Byers’ pass went in as a three-point shot.
“I didn’t even know it went in until the crowd went crazy,” Schumann said.
Sinclair’s next home game is Feb. 22 against Cincinnati State Community College at 7:30 p.m.