Scots get to 4-1,but inconsistencies remain

LAURINBURG — Sometimes, even with a 4-1 record, not everything is going smoothly. The Fighting Scots boys basketball team is now 3-0 on the road after defeating the St. Pauls Bulldogs on Wednesday, 68-60. Yet, are they as good as their record may appear?

Multiple times this season, Scotland has played down to their competition and it’s become a concerning pattern. In their two games against St. Pauls, the Scots allowed a winless Bulldogs team to take them down to the wire and nearly pulled off the upset. In those matches, Scotland won by three and eight points.

In the third week versus the Montgomery Central Timberwolves, Scotland allowed the Timberwolves to outscore them in the first half, which forced the Scots to rally in the second half for them to walk away with the win.

Head coach Jarvis Cobb addressed the team in the locker room following Wednesday’s victory, stating, “Too many times we are giving teams we should easily defeat a chance to beat us.”

“We came out with the win, and we did not play the way we wanted to,” Cobb said. “We gave them [St. Pauls] hope, but we fought back and that’s what it’s about.”

But it’s not all negative for this team; in their first loss of the season to Richmond, the Scots showed key areas that demanded attention, such as transition defense, rebounding and ball movement. Coming into their matchup against St. Pauls, those areas showed noticeable improvement.

“That was the point of emphasis coming into this game: rebounding, defense and cutting down on turnovers. If we can continue to do this, we will be a good team,” Cobb said.

Just five weeks into the season under a new head coach, fans still have time to assess how far this team will go. Yet these games provide a solid look at the team, which is 4-1 for the first time since 2022, averaged 67.8 points per game and allowed 63.8.

The teams they have faced have a combined record of 6-13. Richmond is the only team on their schedule that is undefeated, and Scotland will travel to Richmond in a rematch on Friday at 7:30 p.m.