The Scotland ninth-grade basketball teams carried over their impressive play into the new year, as both won to sweep the Purnell Swett Rams on Thursday in Laurinburg.

The Scotland boys won 65-53 over Purnell Swett to improve to 8-0 on the season. The Scots were able to win despite some sloppy play that included way too much fancy dribbling by the team's guards.

"The cross-over dribble was hurting us," said SHS head coach Steve Hamilton. "We probably had 45 of 50 turnovers, and those cross-over dribbles and all that And 1 stuff hurt us.

"Tomorrow at practice, we're going to get back to the basics."

Isaiah Robinson led Scotland with 21 points. Robinson hit five 3-pointers, including a pair in both the second and third quarters. Eighteen of his 21 points came after the first quarter.

SHS guard Tony McRae helped his team get off to a fast start. McRae scored on a layup that turned into a 3-point play just over a minute into the game, and, seconds later, he spun away from a defender at halfcourt and went all the way to the rim to give the Scots a 7-2 lead.

McRae had seven of his 16 points in the first quarter, and a 3 by Robinson with 36 seconds left allowed Scotland to take a 16-13 lead after one period of play.

The Scots were outscored 14-12 in the second quarter but still led 28-27 at intermission. Scotland's best offensive quarter came in the third, as the team scored 21 points to take a 49-45 lead. The Scots increased the lead to double digits for the first time when Cody Bryant took a defensive rebound the length of the floor for a layup, making the score 57-47 with 4:25 remaining. The Scots' lead would never fall below eight points in the last four and a half minutes.

"I'll tell you, it was a tough win," said Hamilton. "The Christmas break really hurt us; we were running slow, not going after balls, looking sluggish and lazy, not rebounding and boxing out."

Dominique Green contributed eight points to the winning cause for Scotland. Bryant and Seyyon Moody had five points apiece for the Scots.

Girls

The freshmen Lady Scots started 0-2 this season, but are now 4-2 after taking their fourth consecutive win by a score of 43-35 on Thursday against Swett.

Shae Barnes led all scorers with 15 points. Quashira Diggs had 11 for Scotland, Bri Matthews scored eight and Zannie McNeill chipped in six points for SHS.

"Their offense was a little off from the long break, but defensively, we were strong," said Scotland head coach David Brooks.

The SHS ninth-grade teams host Richmond Gold on Monday, beginning with the girls' game at 5 p.m.