Hoops for the Cure Classic Game 3: Flight 47, Durham Hurricanes 18

Triangle Flight completed round-robin play at the Hoops for the Cure Classic by rolling over the Durham Hurricanes, 47-18. In contrast to the first two games of the tournament, in which the Flight raced to a big lead and then coasted at points in the second half, this time some of the most tenacious minutes were played in the final period.

After building a 29-15 halftime advantage, the Flight limited the Hurricanes to just three second-half points. That continued a Saturday-long trend of tough defense, as in the two games played today, Flight opponents shot just 17.3% from the field and committed 52 turnovers in 28 minutes.

Offensively, Brady scored 14 points, and Gabe and Andrew added eight apiece. The game also featured (finally) some better Flight free throw shooting, as the orange-clad visitors hit 60 percent from the line (including 6-for-10 from Gabe as he recovered from having been hexed by Coach Dunlap, who had noted how well he was shooting from the line) after struggling from the stripe in the previous two games. The win advanced the Flight to Sunday's championship game at 4:10 p.m. at Net Sports against an opponent to be determined.

I feel like it is my duty by sitting at the scorer's table to relay at least one hilarious comment made near or at the table to those who can't hear it. Now, obviously, what qualifies as hilarious mostly depends on which team your son plays on and who you're cheering for. But you hear some really incredible stuff over there.

Saturday afternoon's highlight was the following: with the score 45-18 late in the game, the opposing coach loudly announced, "The problem in this game is that those other coaches have TOTALLY INTIMIDATED these referees. That has decided the entire game."

Just guessing: there might have been a few other factors that decided a 47-18 game. And sure, laugh if you want, but this action photo of the Flight coaches from the game shows that they did have a certain intimidating glare about them.

Shot of the day: Beautiful play by Andrew in the second half. First, he penetrated into the lane, beating his man into the paint. That's where he was met by a Hurricanes post player, but as he elevated, he absorbed the contact, floated the ball high off the glass, and scored the and-one while drawing the foul.

Big on the boards: Isaac had the Flight's second straight double-digit rebound game, as he grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Andrew added four rebounds from his guard spot, a high total from a perimeter player.

Defensive award: This coveted honor goes to Coach Dunlap, who clearly and persuasively (at least to me) went through some rules interpretations with the honorable game officials. I believe the highlight was when he told one of the officials, "I know the rule better than you," to which the official replied, in all seriousness, "I know." Point, Dunlap!

Stat of the day: The Flight could have gone scoreless in the entire second half and still won the game. They put up 29 points in the first 14 minutes, and the Hurricanes only scored 26 for the entire game.

Game 3 box score

                         1st     2nd      Total
Hurricanes        15      3           18

Flight                29      18         47

Field goal shooting

Hurricanes 7-35 (20.0%)

Flight: 17-44 (38.6%)

Free throw shooting
Hurricanes 3-10 (30.0%)

Flight 12-20 (60.0%)