LAURINBURG — Basketball season is here, and it’s going to be an unusual one for Scotland.
The Fighting Scots don’t have access to the school’s main gym, which was damaged by floodwaters during Hurricane Florence. It might be that way until the end of the school year.
But that hasn’t stopped the boys and girls basketball teams from working. The teams have been utilizing Scotland’s old gym as well as Sycamore Lane Elementary School’s facility, which will host the high school’s varsity games this season.
Scotland’s basketball season starts on Monday when the varsity teams travel to Gray’s Creek. The girls game will begin at 6 p.m., and the boys game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Here’s how the varsity basketball teams are looking as they prepare for opening night.
Fighting Scots grind through adversity
Scotland’s boys basketball team lost some talented players — including Niem Ratliffe, who graduated after leading the team in scoring last season — and gained a few others. Head coach Matt Justin believes his team can continue to compete in the Sandhills Athletic Conference and build off of a year in which the Scots finished with a 19-9 record.
“The kids have been working,” Justin said. “They’ve been putting time in and competing. We had the hurricane and we didn’t have a gym for over a month, and then towards the end of October we were able to get in the old gym.”
The Scots also lost some key contributors from last season on the varsity and jayvee levels. One of those players is Bruce Wall, who averaged six points and five rebounds per game last year. Wall suffered a torn ACL while playing quarterback for Scotland’s football team, and he’ll be sidelined for the entire basketball season.
Those changes left the Scots with just two returning varsity players on this year’s team.
“The rest of them didn’t play or were young and inexperienced,” Justin said.
David Campbell, Adonis Jackson, Khalib Simmons and Bryant Williams are currently the four seniors on Scotland’s roster.
This is Campbell’s first year with the Scots after transferring in from Purnell Swett.
Those seniors will be expected to be the leaders on Scotland’s inexperienced roster. Junior guard Garrett McRae will also fill a significant role as the driving force of Scotland’s offense.
“This will be his third year on varsity. He’s been up here since he was a freshman,” Justin said. “He needs to be really good for us. He’s kind of going to be our engine.”
Justin wants his team to improve on its accuracy from 3-point range this year. He said Cambell, McRae and junior guard C.J. Settles have shown that they can take on that challenge for the Scots.
Ultimately, Justin thinks his team has enough talent to succeed despite its lack of experience.
“The kids are excited to get going,” Justin said. “They’re ready to play someone other than themselves. We’re young and inexperienced, but the kids are in here trying to compete and get better.”
Experience a plus for Lady Scots
There’s still plenty that the Scotland girls basketball team has to learn, but head coach Mallarie Snow doesn’t have to worry about her team’s effort level.
“This group has been trying really hard,” Snow said. “I’ve been really thankful for that as a coach.”
Snow said that’s partially due to amount of experience on Scotland’s roster. Snow said half of the players on her team are juniors, and three are seniors.
“I do appreciate that fact,” Snow said. “I think that’ll help us in the long run.”
The Lady Scots are planning on running an offense that is more fast-paced and scrappy than it has been in the past. They’ve been working on being more vocal in order to facilitate that change in tempo.
Senior point guard Niaria Leach will be a catalyst on both sides of the court for the Lady Scots. Leach averaged seven points per game last season, the second-highest mark on the team last year behind senior Amaya Pegues. She will be joined in the backcourt by senior shooting guard Nautika Moore.
Junior Asjah Swindell will be the team’s primary post player after finishing as the Lady Scots’ rebounds leader last season with seven per game.
“We really don’t have that much size this year, so we’re going to be leaning on her a lot in our post play,” Snow said.
The Lady Scots finished with an overall record of 4-18 last season. Snow said gelling as a team is one of the keys for the Lady Scots as they look to right the ship this year.
“That’s a big part of athletics,” Snow said. “If they like each other, they’e going to do a whole lot better on the court. So far, so good. No drama. They just look like they’re psyched for the season.”
