ROCKINGHAM — A late comeback attempt by the Scotland High boys basketball team wasn’t enough in a 67-62 loss to Richmond on Friday night.
Richmond used a 9-0 early in the fourth quarter to turn a 46-46 tie into a 55-46 lead. The Fighting Scots responded with a 10-0 run that put them ahead 56-55 with four minutes left in the game. Scotland’s Ladarius McNeill capped off the run with a pair of baskets.
Richmond’s Nygie Stroman and Scotland’s Mandrell Johnson then traded baskets. Richmond’s Caleb Hood followed that by making a free throw to tie the game at 58 with just over three minutes left.
Bruce Wall responded with a basket that gave Scotland what proved to be its final lead of the game. Raiders guard P.J. McLaughin made a pair of free throws to tie the score at 60. After a fruitless possession on Scotland’s end, Stroman made a basket through contact and made his ensuing free throw attempt to give the Raiders a 63-60 lead with 1:20 on the clock.
Wall made a pair of free throws at the one-minute mark to cut Richmond’s lead to one point. But Stroman responded with a dunk that brought Richmond’s fans to their feet with 32 seconds left.
That left the Scots with plenty of time to push the ball down the court and potentially tie the game with a 3-pointer. The Scots passed the ball around the perimeter for about 20 seconds before Mandrell Johnson launched a high cross-court pass to Wall. Hood jumped up to contest the pass. Wall and Hood tangled in midair, and the ball bounced out of bounds off Wall’s outstretched left hand.
“We were trying to go for a three, but looking back on it I wish we would’ve gone for a quick two because we still had a timeout left we could use,” Scotland coach Matt Justin said. “They probably would have given us a quick two without fouling.
“It’s easy to look back though. I was close to calling a timeout, but it looked they were going to be able to move it to get an open look. They were able to steal a cross-court pass. It’s unfortunate.”
Richmond had possession with just over nine seconds left in the game. Scotland almost got a steal on the inbounds pass, but the Raiders quickly recovered. Hood then found some space underneath the basket to score the game’s final points just before time expired.
Johnson led Scotland with 21 points. Wall added 18 points, and McNeill chipped in 12 points.
“Ladarius was huge in the second half,” Justin said. “He had several big plays — offensive rebounds, put-backs, steals. He made some huge plays for us. He was super active in that game.”
Stroman logged a game-high 26 points for the Raiders. Stroman made seven of his nine free throw attempts.
Richmond finished the regular season with a 16-7 overall record and a 9-4 mark in Sandhills Athletic Conference play. Scotland finished 12-10 overall and 8-5 in conference play. Pinecrest, Lumberton, Richmond and Scotland are the top four teams in the conference standings.
The SAC tournament will begin next week.
