Back in early November, Scotland coach David Johnson was not sure how his young team would respond to the departure of Megan Brigman (2009 M-SEC player of the year) and Shayla McEachern (M-SEC selection).

After an 18-8 season, Johnson believes the reception was better than he imagined.

After getting off to a quick start where the Lady Scots won four of their first five games, they ran into a snag against Marlboro, dropping a pair to the Lady Bulldogs.

“The Marlboro teams were a big test for us because they’re a very good team, they’re well-coached and have great athletes there,” Johnson said. “If you’re not ready to compete against them, then they’ll embarrass you. Those girls play hard and play tough. The first game at their place was tough because I looked down at our bench and saw Tierra (Pate) and Brittany (Dockery) in street clothes and I knew it was going to be tough on us to pull it out, especially with alot of our offense on the bench."



“The second time around, we had one of the girls back, Brittany, and she scored 16 points,” continued Johnson. “We played well with them for a half and down the stretch, we just did not have enough offense to keep up with them.”

During the middle part of the season and the Christmas Tournament at Eastern Guilford, the girl’s took their licks, losing to eventual champion Eastern Guiford.

“That middle part of the season, injuries caught up with us and kind of slowed us down,” said Johnson.

Once conference play started in January, Scotland got back on the winning track, winning three of their first five SEC games before running into a buzz saw in Lumberton and Richmond.

“I can honestly say that after those two losses, I challenged them,” Johnson said. “ I felt that we didn’t compete in those two games as well as we could have. I expected us to raise our level of play. Against teams with that kind of talent, you have e to be consistent throughout.”

Scotland managed to avenge the earlier loss to the Lady Raiders at their place on senior night.

“It was our biggest win of the year for us,” said Johnson of the Richmond win. “Going to their place on senior night, we were more aggressive, a little more physical and made the hustle plays.”

Winning 18 games and making the playoffs were big accomplishments and exceeded Johnson’s expectations.

“I knew that being the leader of a young team, I had to make sure that I had the girls ready,” Johnson said. “ I had to help them understand how to practice for games. I felt the coaching staff did great job of getting them ready.”

For the Scotland boy’s basketball team, the 2009-10 season is one that will go down in the record books as one of the most successful.

Besides winning their first playoff game in 15 years and the first christmas tournament in 20, the Scots had some memorable wins during the season.

During a conference game on Jan. 22 at Lumberton turned into the Mo Covington show, and coach Mike Ritchie knew that the senior, who had 34 points was in the zone.

“He was unconscious that night he shot lights out,” said Ritchie. “It was one of those games where the basket looks three times as big as it usually is, it was like he couldn’t miss.”

Outside of the christmas tournament, the biggest win came in the first round of the NCHSAA 4-A playoffs against former M-SEC foe, Seventy-First, that the Scots won 53-48.

“The Seventy-First win was pretty big not just for us, but for this program,” Ritchie said. “It was a big win against a team that was clearly bigger than we were. They had a backcourt of 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-4 guys in the post and they were not just tall, they were big.”

That win is something that the second year coach hopes to build off of for next year.

“For someone who’s not familiar with the program, they know that was a good win,” said Ritchie. “For us, that have been here since we started the turnaround two years ago, to defeat a team like Seventy-First, that is a big accomplishment.”

One of the players that impressed Ritchie down towards the end of the season was Jeron Wright.

The sophomore post player, put in big minutes in the the over the Falcons, and continued to get better over the course of the season.

“Jeron is so raw talent-wise and works extremely hard,” Ritchie said of Wright. “He continued to get better as the season went on. He gave us some huge minutes against Seventy-First and that’s what you want from your bench."

Above all, the biggest win for the Scotland this season was the one-point win over Middle Creek in the championship game of the Eastern Guilford Christmas Holiday Tournament.

After having to travel from Laurinburg to Gibsonville, which is outside Greensboro, and back three days in a row, shows just hard the kids were willing to work.

“We got hot in the tournament and got on a roll. We drove back and forth three days in a row and won the tournament. The boys went down there and played hard,” said Ritchie. “I think it was where the team really gulled together. We then got on a roll in conference play despite hitting a few road blocks.”

“I wish we could’ve played better against Pinecrest,” Ritchie continued. “It was a great season for us and now that we’ve gotten to the state playoffs two years in a row, we’re getting the program back on track and I expect to finish in the top three in the conference. My main expectation as a coach is to win the conference and it takes alot of hard work and alot of commitment.”