LAURINBURG — After leading by as many as seven points in the fourth quarter, the Scotland High boys basketball team stumbled late in a 54-51 loss to Seventy-First on Tuesday in the first round of the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament.
The loss may have eliminated the Scots from contention for an at-large playoff bid. Ranked 45th in the most recent adjusted MaxPreps rankings, Scotland was projected to be one of the last five teams to make the 4A field. Seventy-First is ranked 55th.
The Scots made nine 3-pointers on Tuesday — including four apiece from Garrett McRae and C.J. Settles, and one from Mandrell Johnson. But Scotland’s turnovers and errant shots in the game’s final minutes proved costly.
“They made more plays then us at the end, that’s for sure,” Scotland coach Matt Justin said. “I thought we took some ill-advised shots when we had the lead. It’s not like you want to hold the ball, but we played that fourth like we were down.
A basket by Johnson gave Scotland a 51-49 lead with 1:20 left in the game. A travelling violation ended Seventy-First’s ensuing possession, but the Falcons got another chance after an offensive foul on the Scots.
Seventy-First’s Alvin Freeman then hit a 3-pointer to give the Falcons a 52-51 lead with 30 seconds left. Scotland called timeout after Kris McLean drew a foul with 15 seconds remaining.
After the timeout, McLean inbounded the ball to Bruce Wall, who handed it off to C.J Settles on the perimeter. Closely guarded by Isaiah Oratokhai, Settles passed the ball to McRae near the top of the key. Seventy-First’s Quiones Clayton tried to strip the ball from McRae, and Scotland regained possession on a jump ball with 7.4 seconds left.
That gave Scotland another chance to take the lead. This time, McLean inbounded to Johnson near the sideline. Johnson dribbled around Seventy-First’s Alvin Freeman, but he ran into Cameron Shelton, who stripped the ball from Johnson — while Scotland’s bench pleaded for a foul call — and passed it to Freeman. McLean intentionally fouled Freeman with just over one second on the clock.
Freeman made a pair of free throws to give the Falcons a 54-51 lead. Following a timeout, Scotland had just enough time for a desperation shot — a half-court heave by Wall. The attempt was unsuccessful, and Seventy-First escaped with a win.
Scotland held a 41-33 lead after McRae hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter, but the Falcons outscored the Scots 19-10 in the final period.
Johnson led Scotland with 16 points. Settles added 15 points, and McRae chipped in with 12 points.
Trey Graham, Scotland’s starting center, was not with the team on Tuesday.
“Trey is — in my opinion, I’m biased —probably a top-five or six player in the conference if he’s playing right, when he’s engaged and playing hard,” Justin said. “Obviously that’s a big loss. He’s a double-double for us.”
Scotland’s overall record currently stands at 12-12. Playoff brackets will be revealed this weekend.
