By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
Their breakouts came about a season and a half later than expected, but a pair of legends were born in The Cove on Saturday.
Sheridan Bostic returned from the latest in a string of injuries to drain her first six 3-pointers and finished 7-for-9 from long range to lead USCB’s women’s basketball team to a 62-55 win over Clayton State, and Hudson Norton erupted in the second half to finish with 23 points and nine rebounds to fuel the Sand Sharks men to an 81-70 win to finish USCB’s first sweep in Peach Belt Conference play.
Bostic was expected to be a key piece of Sharon Versyp’s roster in last year’s inaugural season, but a preseason knee injury ended her season before it began. Then, just a few minutes into this year’s opener, Bostic felt a pop in her foot and found herself back on the sidelines.
She was right at home behind the arc on Saturday, though, hitting five first-half 3-pointers including four in a four-minute span to end the first half, powering the Sand Sharks to a 16-point halftime lead.
Brielle Bartelt added 12 points and five assists to go with Bostic’s 21 points, and Janiyah Heyward hit two huge buckets down the stretch after the Lakers had trimmed the margin to six. Heyward had eight points, seven rebounds, and four steals in her second game of the season.
USCB’s men never trailed, but it was tied four times early on as the teams felt each other out. The last deadlock came at 13-13 midway through the first half, but Krishen Atwal scored three buckets with a Norton jam mixed in to push USCB to a 21-13 lead. The Sand Sharks took an eight-point advantage to the locker room, and saw the lead shrink to four points before 3-pointers from Dominic Eason and Dylan Lewis bookended a 12-2 run that ballooned the lead to 15.
The Lakers pulled within six on several occasions in the second half, but Norton took over down the stretch, scoring three straight buckets including a thunderous dunk on a baseline drive that took the air out of Clayton State’s comeback.
Norton played just three games a year ago before his season was cut short by injury and was averaging 5.4 points through 11 games this season before putting up a career-high Saturday and coach Ron Fudala’s team showcased its depth.
The Sand Sharks hit the road this week for Peach Belt matchups at Lander on Wednesday and at Georgia Southwestern on Saturday.
