Scotland’s Brad McMillan rises over Douglas Byrd guard LeJon Mabrey for two of his 14 points on Monday.
The middle seeds in the M-SEC made for an interesting match-up each time they met this season, with the three games being decided by a total of 10 points. Scotland beat Byrd 66-63 at home on Dec. 19, and won 66-63 at Byrd on Jan. 30.
The difference in Monday's tournament opener was late-game execution. The Scots held leads late in regulation and in the first overtime, but Douglas Byrd was able to find ways to extend the game in both situations.
The loss sends Scotland's record to 10-11 on the season. The Scots have followed a season-high four-game winning streak with a three-game losing skid heading into next week's N.C. 4-A state tournament. Scotland will be a part of the playoffs for a second straight season after not qualifying for the postseason since the late 1990s. The Eagles go to 11-14 with Monday's win, and they'll face regular-season M-SEC champ Seventy-First in Wednesday's second round.
SHS power forward James Robinson had his team's first four points, and guard Mo Covington knocked down three free throws after being fouled on a 3-pointer. Covington later nailed a trey from the right corner to give the Scots a 10-9 lead.
The first quarter ended with the game tied at 12-all. Scotland's defense was tremendous through more than three fourths of the first half. Dominique Clark had two first-quarter blocks, and Sherwin Ratliffe and James Robinson blocked one shot apiece. The Scots owned the first five-plus minutes of the second period, and two free throws by Robinson at the 2:55 mark completed a 12-0 run to give SHS a 24-12 advantage.
Douglas Byrd finally countered, scoring the last 10 points of the period to cut the lead to 24-22 at halftime. Scotland had gotten back on defense throughout the half, forcing the Eagles to miss several attempts on the fast break, but Byrd scored six transition points during its 10-0 run before halftime.
Brad McMillan scored on the break to put Scotland up 26-22 less than a minute into the second half, and Robinson made 3-of-4 free throws to put the Scots ahead 29-22 after a technical foul was called against the Eagles at the 6:15 mark.
Douglas Byrd guard Brandon Smith scored 11 of his 16 points in the third, including his team's first nine points. He hit a left-handed floater, a hanging lay-up and a 3-pointer to cap a seven-point run and tie the game at 31-all. His basket with 11 seconds left in the quarter tied the game at 36, but Robinson levitated to the rim on a quick score just six seconds later, and the Scots led 38-36 after three.
An 8-2 run to start the fourth quarter had Byrd up 44-40, but McMillan scored at point-blank range and Sherwin Ratliffe hit a pair of free throws to tie the game. Five more unanswered points by the Eagles made the score 49-44, and Scotland would have to climb uphill after leading most of the game.
Chris Moss split a pair of free throws, Robinson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on an up-and-under move, and McMillan got 1-of-2 at the line to cut Byrd's lead to 49-48. A quick- rhythm jumper by Douglas Byrd's J.R. Britton extended the lead to 51-48.
Robinson nearly scored as he was fouled after another offensive rebound; his shot rolled around the rim and popped out. Robinson did hit both free throws, however, cutting the lead to one. Robinson was fouled again at the 1:19 mark, and he again hit a pair at the line to give the Scots a 52-51 lead.
LeJon Mabrey was fouled and hit 1-of-2 to tie the game at 52-all with 55 seconds left. Scotland missed a shot and Byrd got the rebound, but an attempted outlet pass was intercepted by McMillan. McMillan drove and dished to Ratliffe, who passed over to Covington. The ball nearly went through Covington's legs, but he recovered and scored on a lay-up to give the Scots a 54-52 lead with six seconds left.
Byrd called for time with three seconds remaining, and the ensuing inbounds pass made it to Dock McNair. McNair missed from underneath the basket, but Malcolm Rowe tipped the ball twice, with the second tip going in at the buzzer to tie the game at 54-all and force overtime.
Both teams scored six points in the first overtime, with both getting four of those points at the charity stripe. Byrd nearly won the game after an inbounds pass with just two second remaining was tipped off the back iron and out by Rowe, who had scored the game-tying lay-up with a minute remaining.
Rowe scored twice on similar back-door plays in the second overtime. His second basket gave the Eagles a 65-64 lead with 1:09 remaining.
The Scots missed at the other end and would be forced to foul; Byrd's Xavier Cary helped out by missing two foul shots, and Scotland had the ball back, down one, when a timeout was called with 13 seconds remaining.
The final play's design was intended to get the ball into the middle to James Robinson, but Byrd's defense was concentrated toward stopping that from happening. Covington received the ball behind the 3-point line, but was defended well; he passed to Moss, who took one dribble and shot a heavily-contested 18-foot jumper at the buzzer that hit off the front rim.
"No, that wasn't what we wanted," said Scotland head coach Mike Ritchie. "We were supposed to get the ball into James Robinson, but, if he's not open, somebody else has to take the shot.
"We've obviously got guys who aren't paying attention, who don't know what's going on in the game sometimes, even though we just called timeout and said that."
Robinson led all players with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Covington had 16 points and McMillan scored 14. Moss had five and Ratliffe finished with four.
Smith, Rowe and Britton led the Eagles with 16 points apiece. Smith fouled out early in the fourth quarter, and missed the final 7:44 of regulation and both four-minute OT periods.
The Scotland girls' basketball team opens play in the M-SEC Tournament at home tonight against Hoke County at 7:30 p.m. Before that, Jack Britt and Douglas Byrd will play at 6 p.m. in the SHS gym.
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