BLADENBORO — The Fighting Scots took on the Dillon Wildcats in the first round of the fifth annual WoodmenLife Christmas Tournament on Wednesday at West Bladen High School. The Scots suffered their third loss in a row as they fell to Dillon in a close game, 49-52.
The two teams were the first of four games that were played on Wednesday during the first day of the three-day tournament. With the loss, the Scots will play at 2 p.m. today against the loser of the Fairmont-East Bladen game that was scheduled to be played right after the conclusion of the Scots game.
It was a strong first-half showing from the Scots on offense as they took an early 6-2 lead courtesy of two baskets from senior Al Farmer and one basket from junior Justin McRae. An old fashioned three-point play by Farmer extended the Scots lead to 9-4 before the Wildcats found the basket.
A three-point shot that hit nothing but net from senior Greg McMillian put the Scots up by six, 12-6 halfway through the first quarter. Dillon then started to put on the full-court pressure defense which caused a few mistakes by the Scots and allowed the Wildcats to close to gap to two before the end of the first quarter.
Dillon started the second quarter off with a basket to tie the game at 14. The Wildcats then went on a 6-0 run before Scots head coach Matt Justin called a time out. The break in action didn’t slow down the Wildcats defense as they stole the ball from the Scots, but couldn’t finish the play. The Scots responded with a basket by junior Niem Ratliffe to bring the Scots within two. Ratliffe then tied the game at 20 with a trip to the free-throw line.
The two teams traded the lead back and forth for the rest of the second quarter. A trip to the free-throw line by Dillon gave the Wildcats the lead before a basket by Tyrese Baucum tied the game again, this time at 24. The Scots took the final shot of the half, as Ratliffe pulled up for a three-point jumper. The ball bounced off, but Baucum went airborne to try and tip it in for the follow-up basket but the ball sailed just over his fingertips.
After halftime the Scots imposed their will on Dillon as they outscored the Wildcats, 14 to 6 to take a 38-30 lead into the final eight minutes of the game. The two teams combined to score six baskets in the final quarter — five from the field and one from three-point range — the other 20 points that were scored in the quarter came from the free-throw line.
Dillon made 11 trips to the line and was 14-of-24 while the Scots went to the line five times and were 6-of-10. The Wildcats managed to outscore the Scots, 22 to 11 in the fourth quarter to hand the Scots a 49-52 loss.
Despite the final score, with 53 seconds left to play the Scots were only down by three, 47-50. Dillon split their free-throws to give them a four-point lead but a jump ball gave the Scots possession. On the inbound, Dillon tried to steal the ball from the Scots Janoah McRae and the officials called a foul on McRae.
The Wildcats again split their free-throws to make it a 47-52 game in favor of Dillon. The Scots were able to draw the foul and Ratliffe made it a three-point game after two successful free throws. With time winding down, the Scots were forced to foul and send the Wildcats to the line. Dillon missed both shots and with 6.5 seconds left the Scots had the ball and chance to force overtime.
Ratliffe took the final shot for the Scots from beyond the arc and with a loud thud the ball bounced off the rim and the Scots suffered their third straight loss.
The Scots move to 6-5 overall for the season and will play at 2 p.m. today against the loser of the Fairmont-East Bladen game. Admission to the WoodmenLife Christmas Tournament is $6 and no passes will be accepted. Concessions will also be available.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.
