
Scotland’s Alicia McClain (3) shoots over Hoke County’s Karmen Campbell (22) during Friday’s game in Laurinburg.
Brandon Hodge | The Laurinburg Exchange
LAURINBURG — When a single shooting category for a team outweighs its opponent’s total number of points, it’s almost certain that the final score was lopsided.
That was the case for the Scotland women’s basketball team on Friday when the Lady Scots used a 46-18 advantage of points in the paint to blow past the Hoke County Bucks 77-45.
“Points in the paint were big,” Scotland head coach Roshien McClain said. “Driving lane was open; they (the Bucks) weren’t helping off, so I was like, ‘Just keep driving.’ They’re not going to help out; keep driving. And we ran the floor. We got fast break points. We got easy buckets like that. Free-throw line was big. We got to the free-throw line a lot. I told them to expect to get fouled, and we got fouled. And we made free throws.”
Scotland (14-2, 6-1 Sandhills Athletic Conference) finished 15-for-26 from the foul line, with eight coming from Alicia McClain, who finished with 18 points, and five by Morgan Thompson, who scored 23 points.
“I think moving forward, you’ll continue to see more of us attacking more. Because we know that once we attack, it’s either going to be a foul or make or miss, and two of them three, we like,” Roshien McClain said.
Scoring for Scotland without a free throw were Madysan Hammonds with 15 points on five 3-pointers, and Nyasia McQueen with 10 points.
“Madysan Hammonds knocked down some shots tonight; that was real big,” Roshien McClain said. “Alicia, Morgan, just doing what they normally do. You open? Be ready. They’re going to give you the ball, make some layups and control the tempo like we did.”
After McQueen’s layup about a minute and a half after the opening tip put Scotland ahead 4-0, Karmen Campbell scored the first two points for Hoke County (3-14, 1-6 SAC). But what happened afterward was a 13-0 Scotland run, with eight points coming on layups, to make it 17-4. After Ashanti Little ended Hoke County’s scoring drought with a layup, McQueen laid the ball up and in on the other end to put her at eight points for the first quarter.
“It’s all about mindset,” McQueen said. “I was waiting for the point guard. I knew what the point guard was going to come do. I was sitting there. I was ready. I was working around, watching for the ball. Arms up. And I just got the pass, and I just made sure I followed through my shot and made it.”
The Lady Scots netted seven of the last 10 points in the period to push their lead to 26-7.
Scotland’s advantage became 35-9 after the team started the second period on a 9-1 spurt, which included two of Hammonds’ 3s. Hoke County responded with a 10-2 scoring streak to make its deficit 37-19 before Scotland scored seven unanswered points; the Bucks closed the half with Whitney Thompson going 3 of 4 on two trips at the foul line to put the score at 44-22.
“Hoke’s always going to play hard. And you’ve got to like that,” Roshien McClain said. “You’ve got to like the effort, energy; they’re going to keep playing regardless of the score. Regardless of what you did to them previously, they’re going to keep playing hard. And that’s why I told them (the Lady Scots), keep playing hard.”
The Bucks scored six of the first eight points in the second half before six consecutive points from the Lady Scots made it 53-28. The only other makes for Hoke County in the third quarter were a 3 and a jumper by Julianna Macy, while Scotland tallied 10 additional points to go further in front at 63-33.
With four minutes to go, the Lady Scots were ahead 70-40 until Scotland’s Asiah McInnis made a basket while being fouled to put her at the line for a chance at a three-point play, which she succeeded.
Friday was McInnis’ first time playing this season after being unavailable to play in the first semester; she checked in for the first time with 5:12 remaining and played the remainder of action.
“Getting Asiah back is real big,” Roshien McClain said. “She came in … and played real well. A lot of energy, a lot of passion because she’d been missing it. So that was good for her to get out there. It means a lot on the defensive end for rebounding purposes and toughness. She’s a tough, strong girl. So that gives a lot more for Kayla (Simmons) and Alicia not to be in the middle. Her and Nyasia together can handle that more. And got a back line of Asiah, Alicia and Nyasia; that’s a nice rebounding group. I think she’s got to get a little more in shape, but I think she’ll be fine.”
“Asiah is a big help,” McQueen said. “With me, I know sometimes I can get out of shape, get tired. … I’m glad I got Asiah back.”
McInnis, who finished with five points, scored Scotland’s final bucket on a layup with 3:06 to go; Hoke County ended with two layups and a free throw in the last 2:06.
Lailah Crowder had 13 points, and Campbell scored 10 for the Bucks.
Scotland remains home Tuesday for men’s and women’s contests against Southern Lee.
Scotland men fall to Hoke County, lose 3rd straight
Beginning the second cycle-through of Sandhills Athletic Conference play, the Scotland men’s basketball team’s chance to “restart” with a win didn’t go as planned, as the Hoke County Bucks went 25-for-32 from the free-throw line and nailed eight 3-pointers, resulting in a 71-55 loss for the Fighting Scots, their third in a row, Tuesday in Laurinburg.
“They do the best they can, so we’re proud of that. But it just wasn’t enough tonight against a really good Hoke team,” Scotland head coach Michael Malpass said. “Finding things to keep bodies moving and keeping bodies tagging each other, and it not being standing around and watching who we think can score … that’s the challenge we’re in right now against a good team. We stood around a little bit too much. But the biggest thing tonight was we got pushed around under the basket; our rebounding was pathetic, terrible. We weren’t tough, and we got shoved around.”
With Scotland (7-11, 3-4 SAC) behind 38-27 two quarters through, a layup by Brandon Graham mounted a 13-4 charge by Hoke County (12-6, 4-3 SAC) over the first seven minutes of the third; Dylan Lampley was the only Scot to score in the last minute, adding four points. A layup from Jaylen Sturdivant and a 3-point shot from just past the scorer’s table by Tyler Hines closed the period for Hoke County, which led 56-35.
Through the opening minutes of the fourth stanza, Scotland’s attempts to bring about a competitive game flopped, as Hoke County held an advantage of more than 17 points nearly halfway through. But with 4:25 remaining, Jaiquez Caldwell cashed in on a 3, with three more points by him at the charity stripe succeeding, and Jerrison Dixon netted a triple to help bring Scotland back in at 62-51 with 2:37 left. Following a 1-for-2 result on Salah Sutton’s free throws for Hoke County, a finger-roll finish at the rim from Caldwell made it a 10-point game with 2:03 to go.
Sturdivant converted on four of his six free-throw chances in 30 seconds following two empty Scotland possessions, but Caldwell sunk two at the line to keep hope alive for the Scots, who were down 67-55 with 1:09 remaining. However, after Hines and Sturdivant combined for a foursome of foul makes on the ensuing two possessions for Hoke County, Malpass waived off his team after another miss and allowed the Bucks to run the clock out.
“We just grasped them for straws at the end to try to stay in the game,” Malpass said. “I just think, again, the response to somebody pushing you around as you push back the right way; we didn’t do that. And then, they (the Bucks) created a big enough gap that it’s really hard to come back against a good team like that who shot the ball really well tonight.”
Dixon’s 3-point shot about a minute and a half into the first quarter gave Scotland its eventual final lead of 4-2. A trey in the right corner from Brady Fowler did help Scotland make it 11-10, but Hoke County wrapped up the final 3:08 of the frame with a 9-1 run to get its lead out to 20-11.
After the Bucks’ lead went to double digits with two free throws by Hines, the Scots’ deficit didn’t reach below 10 until Caldwell’s layup made it 25-16 with 5:22 until the halftime break. But Hoke County maintained a lead of eight or more to close the opening half up 38-27.
“I thought in the first half, it was the second-chance and third-chance (points) that beat us,” Malpass said.
Caldwell was Scotland’s leading scorer with 17 points; Lampley scored 13 and Dixon and Jonathan Graham added eight points each.
Sturdivant went 14-for-16 at the free-throw stripe and scored 24 points for the Bucks; Hines had 14 points and Darius Breeden chipped in nine points.
Brandon Hodge is the sports editor for The Laurinburg Exchange. He can be reached at 910-506-3171 or by email at bhodge@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BrandonHSports.