Scotland bowls at home for first time this season

LAURINBURG — Despite six Sandhills Athletic Conference schools having men’s and women’s bowling teams this year, all of them meet concurrently at one of two different bowling alleys — Sandhills Bowling Center in Aberdeen or Laurinburg Lanes — for their meets.

After the first conference meet was held at Sandhills on Nov. 30, Laurinburg hosted the second one on Thursday, with Scotland’s teams rolling against the Union Pines Vikings first, then facing Pinecrest in the second match.

Scotland was supposed to have a bye following the Union Pines match, but Lee County elected to no longer have bowling this season after the first meet, making it an even amount of teams now.

The men’s team claimed all five points against the Vikings, with scores of 174-86, 153-113, 171-99, and 191-123 in the four games bowled and a 689-421 total-pin count.

Kenan Smith had a team-high four strikes for Scotland; Landon Malloy, Dylan Tilson, and Garrett Boyer had three strikes and spares each; and Zachary Taylor had four spares and a strike.

Scotland head coach Megan Jernigan discussed how her only two bowlers back from last year’s 3A state title run in Malloy and Tilson have impacted the younger bowlers on the team.

“Landon is a very strong bowler, very confident bowler,” Jernigan said. “His energy and his work ethic definitely lead the other bowlers. I have Dylan Tilson, who’s also returning; he’s as strong as Landon. And I think they’ll help Garrett, Zac, and Kenan. They’re going to help those other three boys with their bowling in the process and help keep their energy up.”

Scotland also won all five points against Pinecrest, defeating the Patriots 204-189, 184-161, 142-138, and 217-170, with total pins at 747-658.

Malloy had five strikes and four spares in the match; Boyer had five strikes and two spares; Tilson had four strikes and spares each; Smith had four spares and two strikes; and Taylor had four spares and a strike.

Scotland sits in a tie with Southern Lee for first in the SAC men’s standings with 15 points apiece following the matches.

Scotland’s teams bowl two matches each at Sandhills on Dec. 14, with opponents to be determined.

Lady Scots take five points

The Scotland women’s bowling team won four points against the Union Pines Vikings and one against the Pinecrest Patriots at Thursday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference meet in Laurinburg.

The Lady Scots won the first two games against the Vikings 116-79 and 115-100 before faltering in the third game to lose 139-129 but coming back to take the last one 128-99; Scotland earned its final point from the 488-451 total-pin count in its favor.

Gabby Norton had three strikes and a spare in the match for the Lady Scots, while Marissa Smith had three strikes, and Jayden Malloy, Nateya Scott, and Madison Dixon all had two spares each, with Malloy also getting a strike.

Megan Jernigan, the Lady Scots’ head coach, talked about what she’s seen with the team so far two meets in.

“They’ve got a lot of potential,” Jernigan said on her team. “We have Nateya Scott, who is returning. She looks really good, stronger than she did last year. And then, the rest of my lineup is all brand-new bowlers, and they look pretty good.”

Bowling Pinecrest, Scotland lost the first three games 122-107, 155-135, and 144-105 but won a close fourth one 119-115, with the Patriots taking total pins 536-466.

Scott led the Lady Scots with five strikes and two spares; Norton had three spares and a strike; Smith had four spares; and Dixon had a strike and a spare.

Scotland is in a third-place tie with Richmond in the SAC standings, with both teams at nine points after Thursday’s meet; Pinecrest is in first with 18.