LAURINBURG — Scotland’s boys basketball team lost to Richmond 59-52 on Friday night in a game that was expected to have a significant impact on the Fighting Scots’ playoff chances.
The Scots aren’t out of the postseason picture yet, though.
Scotland (8-16, 5-9 SAC) finished the regular season in a three-way tie for fifth place out of eight teams in the Sandhills Athletic Conference. They are knotted up with Jack Britt and Hoke, who both lost on Friday night.
The top three teams in the conference will get automatic playoff bids. Other teams will hope to receive at-large bids through a process that takes adjusted MaxPrepsrankings into account.
Scotland needs to win a tiebreaker for fifth place in the conference. According to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s rules, a three-way tie is decided based on who has the longest conference tournament run. The tournament starts next week, and Scotland plays its first-round game at Pinecrest on Monday.
The Scots weren’t aware of their exact postseason situation after Friday night’s game, as several other conference games were still not finished. The news will be welcomed by a team that had an opportunity to take control of their own destiny by defeating Richmond on Friday.
Garrett McRae scored 26 points and made a pair of 3-pointers for the Scots. C.J. Settles scored all of his 12 points from beyond the arc.
McRae provided an offensive jolt for the Scots after Richmond took a 41-39 lead at the end of the third quarter.
About two minutes into the fourth quarter, McRae made a basket to cut Richmond’s lead to 43-42. After Richmond failed to respond, McRae than hit a 3-pointer to give Scotland a two-point lead.
McRae and Trey Graham then made one free throw apiece to give the Scots a 47-43 lead with five minutes left in the game. The Raiders proceeded to go on an 11-0 run that was capped off by a three-point play and another free throw from Xavier Pettigrew.
With Richmond up 54-47, McRae ended the surge by hitting a 3-pointer with 2:20 on the clock.
Just under a minute later, McRae made a pair of free throws to make it a two-point game.
Richmond was then called for a backcourt violation, but a double dribble ended Scotland’s next possession.
Richmond’s Qumair Sivels made two free throws to give the Raiders a 56-52 lead with 36 seconds left.
After a turnover by the Scots and an unsuccessful trip to the free throw line for Richmond’s Caleb Hood, Pettigrew grabbed an offensive rebound and made a layup through contact. He made a free throw to complete the three-point play while securing the victory for the Raiders.
Scotland head coach Matt Justin said his team got “outplayed” in the final four minutes of the game.
“We had a couple open looks that we couldn’t knock down,” Justin said.
Pettigrew finished with 23 points for the Raiders (14-10, 9-5).
