LAURINBURG — Powered by productive outings from Trey Graham, Bruce Wall and Garrett McRae, the Scotland High boys basketball team held on for a 57-54 win over rival Richmond on Friday night.
Graham was impressive in the post, recording 17 points and eight rebounds. Wall added 12 points and five rebounds. McRae had 11 points for the Scots (6-7, 3-2 SAC), who ended their two-game skid.
Kris McLean tallied six points and eight rebounds for the Scots. Guard Mandrell Johnson had nine rebounds. Grayson Smith had five points, including one 3-pointer.
For Richmond, Nygie Stroman finished with 15 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Stroman hit three 3-pointers. Patrick McLaughlin added 14 points. Caleb Hood had seven rebounds, and Jarvis Tillman had six rebounds.
“The way the game went, it was good for us to finally fight through a little bit of adversity,” Scotland coach Matt Justin said. “We started off down 11-3, and the guys didn’t fold. They were able to take control in the second and third quarter. We lost the lead, and we were able to regain the lead and close it out.
“I thought it was good that they didn’t crumble or fall apart, which is what we’ve done a couple times when we’ve had an opportunity.”
Richmond (11-5, 5-2 SAC) erased Scotland’s 32-24 halftime lead and eventually took a 45-44 lead on a 3-pointer by Stroman early in the fourth quarter. The teams exchanged the lead a couple more times, but a three-point play by Wall gave Scotland the lead for good, 50-49, later in the period.
But the Raiders stayed within striking distance. In the late stages of the fourth quarter, Wall made one of two free throw attempts to give Scotland a 55-49 lead. Stroman responded with a 3-pointer that cut Scotland’s lead to three points with 12 seconds left in the game.
McRae was then fouled before the Scots inbounded the ball. With the Scots in the bonus, McRae went to the free throw line and made one of two shots. Richmond’s Caleb Hood quickly responded with a basket in the paint, cutting the Scots’ lead to 56-54 with 4.7 seconds left.
Wall was intentionally fouled, and he made his first free throw before missing the second. Richmond had just enough time for one more shot, Stroman’s long-range desperation attempt that missed as time expired.
Scotland’s shooting struggles from their past two games seemed to carry over into the first half of Friday’s game, as the Raiders jumped out to an 11-3 lead. But the Scots quickly found their rhythm, and they brought their home crowd to life by outscoring Richmond 21-10 in the second quarter.
Rebounding had a lot to do with Scotland’s first-half surge. Crashing the boards wasn’t always easy for the Scots, who were sometimes undersized against Richmond’s lineup.
But the Scots were up to the challenge.
“I like playing good competition. It makes me better,” Graham said. “I knew they were good, and that made me play harder.”
The Scots are now 3-2 in their past five matchups with the Raiders. Grabbing a rivalry win was a big morale booster for the Scots.
“It means everything,” Graham said.
“That was a good win,” Justin said. “And any time you can beat Richmond, that’s big for Scotland.”
