LAURINBURG — Bryant Williams scored 11 points to lead Scotland’s boys basketball team past Marlboro County 59-53 on Saturday.
Trey Graham added 10 points for the Scots (6-12). Adonis Jackson and Antwone Smith had nine points apiece.
Scotland played in its own gym for the first time this season. The facility had been undergoing repairs ever since Hurricane Florence damaged the court in September. Scotland had been playing its home games at Sycamore Lane Elementary School in the meantime.
“It was good to play on our home floor, and start off 1-0 on our home floor,” said Matt Justin, Scotland’s head coach. “The floor looks good. I think the kids felt better playing in here. It’s a better environment for us.”
Plenty of fans from both schools showed up for the rivalry game, but Scotland kept Marlboro’s crowd quiet early on. Scotland took a 28-23 halftime lead with the help of seven points from Williams.
The Bulldogs (8-14) narrowed their deficit to two points on a basket by Damien Bruce in the third quarter, but Scotland responded with a 9-0 run that included buckets by Graham, Smith, Khalib Simmons and Adonis Jackson, who capped off the rally with one of his three second-half 3-pointers.
Marlboro fought back with a 7-0 run to trim Scotland’s lead to 44-40 at the end of the third quarter.
Scotland got off to a hot start in the fourth quarter and stretched its lead to 54-44 on a basket by Williams. Marlboro then went on another run, scoring nine straight points to pull within one point of the Scots.
Smith went to the free throw line with just under 29 seconds left in the game, and he made one of two shots to give Scotland a two-point lead. Smith then forced a jump ball on defense, and Scotland got the ball back.
Garrett McRae then earned a trip to the free throw line on a non-shooting foul. He missed the first shot, but the rebound was deflected out of bounds by a Marlboro player.
Smith then drew a shooting foul and made a pair of free throws to give Scotland a 57-53 lead with 14 seconds left. The Bulldogs were unable to respond, and McRae made two free throws with 10 seconds left to secure the victory.
Smith said the rivalry atmosphere made his late trips to the free throw line difficult.
“I was kind of nervous with the crowd, but the only thing I was thinking about was that it was me and the goal,” Smith said.
Scotland was coming off of a conference win at Jack Britt on Friday night.
“They dug deep,” Justin said. “I think they were a little tired from playing last night. The gym was really warm at Jack Britt. We fought through some adversity.”
The Scots were motivated by the win at Jack Britt, and they were excited to have a chance at revenge after Marlboro beat them 66-44 earlier this season.
“We felt like if we beat Jack Britt, we could beat Marlboro too,” Smith said.
Wesley Brown and Jameik McCoy logged 13 points apiece for Marlboro.
Scotland will wrap up the regular season with six Sandhills Athletic Conference matchups, including three games at their newly repaired facility. Scotland’s next game is on Thursday at Purnell Swett.
