SOUTHERN PINES — Scotland’s boys basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 53-38 loss at Pinecrest on Monday night in the first round of the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament.
Senior Khalib Simmons led Scotland with 10 points in his final game as a Fighting Scot. Scotland finished the season with an overall record of 8-17, including a 5-9 mark in conference play.
Bradlee Haskell had 13 points for the Patriots, who moved on to face Richmond on Wednesday.
“We didn’t play well,” said Matt Justin, who wrapped up his fourth season as Scotland’s head coach. “We struggled right from the beginning. We struggled taking care of the ball and getting shot attempts up.”
Scotland started the game in a 3-2 zone on defense. That approach caused problems for Pinecrest’s perimeter players during the regular season, but the Patriots were ready for it on Monday. The hosts jumped out to a 20-9 lead early in the second quarter.
“They got some slips and some open looks at the beginning of the game, and they made them,” Justin said. “It’s one of those games where we laid an egg. We couldn’t find anything that worked on both ends of the floor. We struggled to have much success.”
Pinecrest held a 30-15 lead at halftime. Simmons made a 3-pointer to close the gap to 36-26 late in the third quarter, but that was as close as the Scots could get.
Garrett McRae added seven points for Scotland.
Scotland’s girls basketball team will now try to keep its season alive in a first-round matchup at Lumberton at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
