Sanford’s Mikey Dixon drives past Dover’s Troy Scott on his way to a 39-point night at Slam Dunk to the Beach on Dec. 27 at Cape Henlopen High.
It isn’t easy to average 27.2 points per game.
But Mikey Dixon is making it look easy.
Sanford’s senior shooting guard is leaving a trail of impressed coaches behind as the top-ranked Warriors (14-2) buzz through a tough schedule. Sanford ran its winning streak to 12 on Monday night with a 52-47 victory at Salesianum.
“He is so good,” Sals coach Brendan Haley said of Dixon. “We were really determined to make him earn everything. He gets a lot of points in transition, because he’s so good at splitting and just getting through guys.”
Sallies did about as well as anybody against Dixon, as he hit 10 of 20 shots from the field and scored 25 points.
“They did a nice job of really matching to him in the second half and taking him away a little bit,” Sanford coach Stan Waterman said. “It was good for us to see that, and see that other guys can step up and sort of shoulder the load.”
Dixon’s points often add up unexpectedly, as he doesn’t dominate the ball or take as many shots as most big scorers. He hit 11 of 17 from the field on a 39-point night against Dover on Dec. 27 at Slam Dunk to the Beach. And in two games against Tatnall, the 6-foot-2 senior made 26 of 32 shots (including 12 of 15 3-pointers) and scored 68 points.
“I just try to let the game come to me, don’t rush anything,” Dixon said after Monday’s game. “I’ve got great teammates, and they set screens for me to get me open. And then I’m trying to get my other guards to play more aggressive, because they’re just as capable of getting into the lane as I am.”
When it comes to ways to stop him, Dixon has seen opponents try everything.
“Mainly box-and-one, or if they’re playing a zone the guy on the top will be face-guarding my side. They won’t even worry about the other side,” he said. “They do things like that, trying to make it hard for me to see the ball go in the basket.”
When it’s a box-and-one, Dixon always sees the other team’s best defender. He has already signed with Quinnipiac, which is struggling at 8-14 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and the Bobcats may need him to step right into a scoring role next season.
“I take it as a challenge,” Dixon said. “It’s only going to help me get better for the next level. When you’re scoring that much and you’re that much of a team’s offense, that’s what you’re going to be facing.”
Dixon is scoring 39.1 percent of the Warriors’ points so far, shooting 57.6 percent from the field and 80.7 percent from the line. Numbers like that are hard to ignore.
“He’s just a great player,” Haley said. “He can finish on the drive, he can finish from behind.”
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ