LAURINBURG — After a relatively slow start, the top-seeded Scotland Christian Academy boys basketball team cruised to an 87-53 win over No. 5 Christ the Cornerstone Academy in the semifinals of the Carolinas Christian Athletic Association tournament on Friday.
Scotland Christian’s Brodie Clark posted 31 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists. Rodney Locklear added 22 points and eight assists. Lacota Locklear tallied 14 points and eight rebounds, and Josh Williams finished with 11 points.
“We played kind of sloppy the first half,” Scotland Christian coach Roger Duffel said. “We switched up different zones, went man-to-man, but had to get out of man-to-man for foul trouble. They scored too many points in the paint, but we adjusted some in the second half and hopefully eliminated that. That’s why we were able to score.”
Micah Dean, the Saints’ workhorse on the boards this season, finished with 12 rebounds.
“His vertical is at least 38-0 inches,” Duffel said about Dean. “He just screens off. He had a good game tonight. His rebounding and blocking out was very important for us to win this game.”
Jacob Hamlett and Landon Wyckoff scored 14 points apiece for Christ the Cornerstone. Creighton Smith added 13 points for the Defenders.
The Saints led 46-26 at halftime. Their advantage was considerable, but the Saints were still frustrated by turnovers and missed opportunities on offense.
That changed in the second half. With Clark knocking in key second-chance buckets and Rodney Locklear connecting from long range, there wasn’t much the Defenders could do to hold back the Saints.
“We’ve got four or five guys that really showed up tonight,” Duffel said.
The Saints punched their ticket to the CCAA boys championship game. They’ll face Liberty Christian at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Saints played well on Friday, but they struggled at the free throw line.
“Our free throw percentage is absolutely horrible,” Duffel said. “We were 3-for-12 tonight. If we get in a tight game that might come back and bite us in the butt.”
In the final game of the night on Friday, Liberty Christian’s boys — after winning their previously-postponed quarterfinal game early Friday afternoon —defeated No. 2 Antioch Christian 66-62 to advance to the championship game.
The Saints won both of their regular-season games against No. 3 Liberty Christian. Scotland Christian won 65-59 at home, and they also defeated Liberty Christian 65-59 in Fayetteville.
The Saints will be aiming for their second straight conference championship on Saturday.
Antioch Christian will face Christ the Cornerstone in the boys consolation game at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
