Doughty catches fire as Comm Tech routs Sayre
HYKING BRISBON whipped a pass into the left corner and began trotting back upcourt, holding aloft three fingers.
Samir Doughty had barely caught the ball, let alone launched it.
"He should do that every time," Doughty said. "He did that 'cause he has confidence in me. Like everybody does. Like I do. Every shot is going in. It's automatic. That's how I feel."
The 6-3, 180-pound Doughty, only a sophomore, is the point guard for Communications Tech and his hoops skills appear to be outdone only by his cockiness.
Then again, it's tough to be positive about Doughty's mindset because he usually speaks with little to no inflection, and his facial expressions don't give him way.
But if Samir is cocky, there was no Doughtying such a stance was justified Tuesday.
As the Phoenix sucker-punched visiting William Sayre, 88-54, in a round-of-16 Public League playoff that doubled as a Class AA semifinal, Doughty shot 15-for-23 from the field and 1-for-2 from the line for 37 points. Six of his field goals were treys, and he missed five other attempts from beyond the arc.
Oh, he also collected five assists and four steals, and blew kisses to the fans as he left the gym; CT plays at Pepper Middle School, which is right next door.
"I own this gym. This is mine," Doughty said. "I get a lot of support from our fans, so I had to show them some love."
Doughty packed 15 of his points into the second quarter, and three of those six field goals were treys. After one, he raised both arms and held up three fingers. After another, he shrugged his shoulders while displaying overall body language that seemed to say, "This is so easy, it's getting downright boring."
Last fall, Doughty received a personalized greeting from Xavier's staff. His reaction?
"It gave me motivation," he said. "I wanted to hear from more, and better, colleges."
When Doughty was told he bears a strong facial resemblance to the Morris twins, Marcus and Markieff, the Prep Charter/Kansas products now playing in the NBA, he shot back, with maybe a hint of a smile, "Not you, too. I'm tired of hearing that."
Soon, a student fan was walking toward Doughty.
"Ask him who I look like," Samir said.
Done.
"The Morris twins," the kid said.
"See. Told ya," Samir said.
Doughty's 37-point outburst represents a school record (teammate David Johnson notched 33 earlier this season) and there's a chance it'll stand forever. Like many schools, Comm Tech is slated to close this June.
"I haven't thought about where I might go," he said. "I'm concentrating on winning games. If I do have to go somewhere else, I just hope 'Bies' [coach Lou Biester] can come with me and be the coach, because he has put so much work into me.
"I'm comfortable around everybody at Comm Tech, from the principal right on down. If you need help with something, you can always get it."
Doughty also dealt major props to Johnson, a wing sniper, and forward Terrence Brown, the two senior starters.
"They run the show. They tell us what to do, and we listen," Doughty said. "Terrence really helps me a lot. We do extra workouts before practice."
Brown contributed 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Johnson perfect-swished three early treys, but didn't shoot again until 1:43 before halftime. He finished with 11 points, four assists and three steals. Brisbon (11) and Briheam Anthony (eight) were the rebound leaders.
For Sayre, whose starters were yanked by coach Eric Hooks with 6:22 left, Qadir Wilson nailed four consecutive treys, while totaling 18 points. Richard Burton (12), Darius Sweat (11) and Antwan James (10) also reached double figures, and James seized 13 boards.
Doughty lives on Regent Street, near 47th and Kingsessing, but he now sees there's a big, wide world out there, thanks to basketball.
"I know how open the doors are gonna be for me," he said.
Kinda like the basket Tuesday.
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