LAURINBURG — There were 12 lead changes, seven ties, and 36 minutes of basketball played Friday night.
But, when it was all said and done, the No. 1 Lady Scots basketball team (18-8, 12-0 Sandhills Athletic Conference) could never stop the scoring of the No. 2 Pinecrest Patriots (15-6, 11-2 SAC) in the SAC tournament championship game, ultimately falling 58-53 in overtime.
“We played hard; I can’t knock my girls on nothing they did cause they played hard the whole game,” Lady Scots Roshien McClain said after the game. “It was a dogfight; all three games with them (Pinecrest) have been dogfights. All-in-all, I just appreciate my girls…for the way they have played all year.”
In the beginning of the third quarter, the Lady Scots were able to take a short-lived 27-26 lead, thanks to an Alicia McClain layup, before the Patriots led until just over five minutes were left in the period. Morgan Thompson scored two of her 25 total points on the night off a layup to tie the game at 31-all but Pinecrest scored seven-straight points afterwards, including five from Jasiah Gilchrist, to go back up 38-31. After Gilchrist notched a 3-point play to put the Patriots up 40-34 near the end of the frame, Madysan Hammonds buried a 3 to send the Lady Scots into the fourth quarter down 40-37.
Hammonds drained another trey to tie the game at 40 apiece in the opening moments of the fourth quarter and Alicia McClain nailed two free throws to even the score at 44-44 later in the period. With 3:10 to go in regulation, Thompson hit a top of the key 3-pointer to give the Lady Scots a 47-44 lead, that turned into a 49-44 advantage moments later after Thompson sank in a runner. However, a layup by Pinecrest’s Zanodiya McNair made it 49-46 and on the ensuing Lady Scots inbound, Madison Dixon would have her pass tipped, which led to a Jakaya Scott 3 to make the score 49-49 with 1:02 to go in the frame. With 17 seconds remaining, Thompson would get fouled, sending her to the free-throw line, where she gave the Lady Scots a 51-49 lead. But, a layup by McNair with 3 seconds remaining would make the score deadlocked at 51 apiece. A half-court heave by Thompson wouldn’t fall, which led to four more minutes of play in overtime.
McNair scored the first bucket of overtime on a layup with Alicia McClain tying the game back-up at 53-53 on a pair of free throws. On the next Pinecrest possession, Scott would get a putback layup to put the Patriots ahead 55-53, but with 32 seconds to go, Alicia McClain would take a charge to give the Lady Scots a chance to tie the game once again. On the inbounds play, Alicia McClain tried to find Thompson but turned the ball over after a miscommunication between the two. The Lady Scots would be forced to foul Scott, who knocked down her first free throw, but on her second attempt, she missed, leading to Alicia McClain to grab the rebound. Alicia McClain, again, looked for Thompson on a pass but the ball sailed past her and went out-of-bounds. Scott was fouled again and knocked down both of her free throw attempts with 8.4 seconds remaining to help the Patriots hold on for the win.
With this being the second time both teams have went into overtime against each other this season, Roshien McClain gave his thoughts on the final minute of regulation and what went wrong for his team this go-around.
“Both teams really wanted it,” Roshien McClain said. “They (Pinecrest) made mistakes, we made mistakes too. Somebody had to win, somebody had to lose, and we were just on the losing end.”
Early in the first quarter, the Lady Scots led 4-3, before a 9-0 run put Pinecrest up 12-4. The Lady Scots made it 15-14 off a layup from Thompson but Gilchrist put home a layup to send the Patriots into the second quarter ahead 16-15.
Thompson scored the first five points for the Lady Scots in the second quarter but the Patriots stayed with the Lady Scots to make the score 20-20. The Lady Scots led 25-23 with under two minutes left in the half, but Pinecrest’s Aniyah McGregor hit a 3-ball to give the Patriots a 26-25 advantage that they would take into the break.
Alicia McClain scored 12 points and Hammonds had nine, all on 3-pointers.
McNair had a team-high 20 points for the Patriots, while Scott and Gilchrist followed behind with 14 each.
The Lady Scots will now get ready for the playoffs, where they’ll play their first-round matchup on Feb. 21 against an opponent that will be announced on Saturday afternoon, when playoff brackets are released.
Roshien McClain talked about his preparation for the playoffs and how this loss will motivate his team.
“When you keep winning…everything you’re doing seems right when it’s not,” Roshien McClain said. “We’ve just gotta work on things and clean up the mistakes, and get ready for the playoffs. The playoffs are one-and-done; ain’t no looking back. We’ll continue to work on things on Monday. My work starts Saturday afternoon so that’s what I’ll be doing from Saturday until about…Monday morning.”
No. 2 Scotland’s hard-fought effort not enough against No. 1 Richmond in SAC championship
The No. 2 Scotland men’s basketball team (19-8, 10-4 Sandhills Athletic Conference) kept it close with the No. 1 Richmond Raiders (23-2, 12-0 SAC) up until the fourth quarter of Friday night’s SAC tournament title game in Rockingham. A trio of 3s by Richmond’s Jullien Cole midway through the final period of play boosted the Raiders to an 86-71 victory.
The Scots trailed by as many as nine points in the first quarter, but were able to go into the second quarter with just a 16-14 deficit. With 2:30 to go in the second quarter, the Scots tied the game at 24-24, before Richmond closed the half on a 12-2 run to put the Scots into a 36-26 hole at the break. At the end of the third quarter, the Scots were down 55-46 and couldn’t contain the high-scoring Raiders offense in the fourth quarter.
Lamonte’ Cousar scored 36 points for the Scots and Jaiquez Caldwell had 11. Isaac Ferguson also put up double figures in scoring with 10.
Cole led the Raiders with 24 points, while Paul McNeil Jr. put up 23 points and 10 rebounds. Zion Baldwin added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Scots will now prepare for their first-round playoff matchup on Feb. 21. The Scots will find out their opponent on Saturday afternoon, when playoff brackets are released.