We’re a few weeks into 2019, and Scotland High’s athletic department is still dealing with repercussions from 2018.
The Fighting Scots’ basketball teams are still playing in a temporary home while their own gym undergoes some final repairs after being tarnished by Hurricane Florence last year. Those repairs are going faster than expected, but the Scots still have to wait around two more weeks until they move their home games from Sycamore Lane Elementary School back to their own facility.
If that timeline holds up, Scotland could be back on its own turf for the last three home games of the year. The first couple of those games are against Seventy-First and Pinecrest, two of the top teams in the Sandhills Athletic Conference in both boys and girls basketball. The last game, a rivalry matchup against Richmond, will be Scotland’s regular-season finale. And before they face the Raiders, the Scots will travel to Lumberton to face the Pirates.
That’s a difficult stretch — although that’s not saying much, because there are no easy games in the SAC. Just ask Scotland.
Scotland’s boys are 1-4 in conference play, with their only win coming against Purnell Swett at Sycamore Lane. On that night, the Scots showed that they could play as a team and play their style of basketball. They carried their momentum from that win into the Adidas Christmas Tournament at West Bladen, where they finished in third place.
But some of the issues that have been hampering the team all year — turnovers and missed opportunities, to name a couple — were present in the holiday tournament, and they’ve continued to be thorns in the side of Matt Justin’s team. And those issues have been prevalent throughout the Scots’ current three-game losing streak, which includes losses to Seventy-First and Pinecrest.
Like the boys, Scotland’s girls team is 1-4 in conference play with a win against Purnell Swett. Injuries and a lack of size have been problematic for the Lady Scots, who are 6-8 overall and have already topped their win total from last season (four).
Asjah Swindell, the team’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, is the team’s primary post player. When she’s out of the game, Scotland’s guards play a bigger role in the offense. Led by leading scorer Niaria Leach and point guard Nautika Moore, Scotland’s backcourt has turned in some strong performances this season.
And although the Lady Scots have lost four of their last five games, several players, including freshman forward Kadence Sheppard, who leads the team with more than two steals per game, have stepped up into bigger roles as the season has progressed.
Both teams now have a chance to turn things around and end the season on a positive note. That process starts when the Scots host Lumberton on Tuesday.
And that process will end in Scotland’s home gym, which was last utilized for home games by the school’s volleyball team in the fall. If anything, returning to their home facility will allow the Scots to return to their home territory and put one of the last memories of September 2018 behind them.
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