Roundup: Scots clinch playoff berth after win over Union Pines

LAURINBURG — The Scotland men’s basketball team (15-4, 6-2 Sandhills Athletic Conference) is heading back to the NCHSAA playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

A 51-45 victory over the Union Pines Vikings (9-9, 2-6 SAC) Friday night locked the Scots up with the SAC’s 3A automatic postseason bid. With only one more 3A conference opponent remaining for the Scots this season in Lee County, who is 7-11 and 1-7 in the SAC, the Scots finish with the top 3A conference record in the split 3A/4A SAC.

Scotland head coach Michael Malpass, who’s in the second season of his second stint as the Scots’ head coach, knew the return of Scotland basketball to the playoffs was doable, it just needed time.

“When you buy an old house and flip it, you don’t flip the whole house in a year,” Malpass said. “We’ve got one now; we’re still flipping. Last year was such a tough year cause I hate losing. To sit in a spot to where last year we won one home game, this year we’re undefeated at home. To be 15-4 right now and sort of drive our own car to the finish line, it’s awesome for these guys because that tells you that they’ve, really even last year, they’ve stuck around, so they believed in it enough, and they’re still believing in what we’re teaching them.”

Malpass doesn’t believe the successful seasons will stop here, either. He thinks the future of Scotland basketball is at it’s highest peak.

“I’m excited about the program and the future of Scotland High School; not just that we’ve got it in a good place now,” Malpass said. “I think we can get it here and keep it here. We’ve got some great talent on that JV team; coach (Melvin) Davis has done a good job with them. Jonathan Graham, he’s a program kid, he’s gonna be a beast next year. When I was here (at Scotland) the first time (and) Travis Miles was a junior, I told our whole coaching staff, I said Travis Miles is gonna be a stud. They said no coach, I don’t see it. I said I promise you, he’s gonna be a stud and (he was); Jonathan Graham is gonna be a stud. Jaiquez Caldwell is gonna be a leader next year; he is gonna be a great player. (This) is what our community deserves.”

The Scots were able to secure the win with the help of Lamonte’ Cousar and his 24 points on the night. Cousar hit the first shot of the game for the Scots, a baseline jumper, and went on to score 11 out of Scotland’s 15 first quarter points. The Vikings stuck with the Scots, however, as they trailed 15-14 at the end of the period.

A trio of layups by Graham helped the Scots take a 21-18 lead in the beginning stages of the second quarter, before Cousar dropped six points in a row himself to put the Scots up 27-20. A layup by Isaac Ferguson capped a 9-0 run by the Scots that sent them into halftime with a 29-20 lead.

A five-point burst by the Vikings at the start of the third quarter brought Scotland’s lead down to only four points. Two layups by Ferguson and a jumper by Cousar helped build the Scotland lead back up to 35-26, but another string of five points by Union Pines brought it back down to a four-point game again. A scoop shot by Caldwell sent the Scots into the fourth quarter with a 37-31 lead.

The Scots managed to create a 46-36 lead off a Cousar alley-oop slam with the assist coming from Caldwell, but a stretch of six straight points by the Vikings ensued. And, after two free throws by Caldwell, a corner 3 by Union Pines’ Aiden Leonard made it a 48-45 game with 41 seconds to go. A two-handed dunk by Cousar and a free throw by Caldwell helped stave off the Vikings’ comeback attempt, however.

Ferguson finished with nine points, Graham compiled six points, and Caldwell and Nick McCall had five points each for the Scots.

Jaylen Kyle and Leonard both led the Vikings with nine points, while Trent Hilburn followed behind with seven points.

After defeating the Vikings only 56-51 in Cameron on Jan. 3, Malpass discussed the adjustments he implemented to try and come out with a more comfortable win in this matchup.

“They (Union Pines) know a little bit of the stuff we do because we played them once,” Malpass said. “When I would call something, all you gotta do is back-cut and circle back, get the hand-off, and do whatever we’re doing; we’re not great at reading that. But, we ran some things we didn’t do the first time (we played them). My thought was let’s spread the floor and let’s drop the guy that gets all the attention, and let’s just drive it to the goal, and see what they do. I feel good about that.”

Free throw shooting has been an up-and-down roller coaster this season, with the Scots shooting 59% as a team; an increase from 43% a year ago, however.

Malpass feels if his team can make more of their free throws, they wouldn’t have to worry about the close games that have been ample this year.

“We shoot free throws better (but) we’re still not great,” Malpass said. “We missed eight (free throws) tonight. I keep telling these guys, if you make those, you win by 10 or 12 and it’s always a comfortable ending.”

The Scots face the Pinecrest Patriots next on Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in Southern Pines before facing the Patriots again on Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Laurinburg.

Lady Scots top Union Pines

At the start of the 2022-23 season, Lady Scots head coach Roshein McClain made a promise to win 20 games. While he and the Lady Scots (12-7, 8-0 SAC) won’t be able to accomplish that fate, they do have a chance to fulfill a different one; an undefeated conference record.

On Friday night, the Union Pines Vikings (6-11, 3-5 SAC) looked to be the first team to end the Lady Scots’ conference streak after upsetting the Lee County Yellow Jackets in their previous game and handing them their third loss on the year.

The Lady Scots never took a double-digit lead until the second half against the Vikings, but were able to close things out with a 44-30 win.

“I knew tonight was gonna be tough; I knew tonight was gonna be a grind with Union Pines,” McClain said. “They’re well-coached. I knew they were gonna come out and have a gameplan for what happened the first time we played them. But, overall, I think we played together; we played spirited basketball. Just to get through that game was a grind. It was a great win.”

A Madysan Hammonds 3-pointer, followed by back-to-back Alicia McClain layups put the Lady Scots out in front 7-3 early in the first quarter. After the Vikings made it 11-7, the Lady Scots would stretch their lead back out to 16-9 at the end of the first quarter.

The Vikings scored seven straight points to begin the second quarter before Morgan Thompson made her presence known, after scoring only two points in the first quarter, with six straight points to increase the Lady Scots lead to 24-16. A layup by Hammonds sent the Lady Scots into halftime with a 24-16 advantage.

Alicia McClain scored six of the first nine points for the Lady Scots in the third quarter to help build their lead to 33-19. After back-to-back two-pointers by the Vikings, Kayla Simmons was able to make the Lady Scots’ lead 35-23 at the end of the third quarter.

Union Pines outscored the Lady Scots 7-3 to begin the fourth quarter, but a 3-point play by Thompson would put the Lady Scots up 41-30 and help close the game with free throws.

Alicia McClain and Thompson each scored a team-high 13 points and Hammonds finished with 11 points, including three 3-pointers.

Meghan McCaskill led the Vikings with 10 points. Corryn McCutchen scored eight points and Savannah McCaskill had seven points.

Hammonds got off to a slow start to begin the season, making only five 3-pointers through the Lady Scots’ first seven games. However, she has been a huge spark for the offense as of late, hitting at least three treys in eight of her last nine games.

Roshein McClain talked about how she has been able to find her form again.

“She hit a real big (3-pointer after) I told Alicia to attack that girl and kick it (to Hammonds),” Roshein McClain said. “I knew it was good after she shot it. She’s been on a roll and that’s what we needed. We needed that extra scorer to spread the floor. Now, Morgan and Alicia can get in there and dish off or lay it up. So, that really helps when she is knocking down shots.”

Nyasia McQueen, a usual starter for the Lady Scots as of late, was unavailable against Union Pines, which led to Asiah McInnis earning the start.

Roshein McClain praised McInniss’s play despite not scoring.

“Asiah hasn’t been in the roatation,” Roshein McClain said. But tonight, she didn’t score, but she rebounded. She played her minutes and she really helped rebounding. That was real big for us.”

The Lady Scots take on the Pinecrest Patriots in their next game on Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. before hosting the Patriots on Feb. 3 at 6 p.m.