Lady Scots show competitiveness, come up short against Richmond in SAC tourney championship

ROCKINGHAM — Just a week ago, the Scotland women’s basketball team came out with a bland showing against Richmond on the Raiders’ home floor, resulting in a 59-38 loss.

Friday night, in a rematch at Richmond’s gymnasium with the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament championship on the line, the second-seeded Lady Scots still couldn’t take down the No. 1 Raiders but provided a competitive performance in a 60-49 decision.

“It was a good game,” Scotland coach Roshien McClain said. “They’re a good team. Teddy (Moseley) coaches them real well. They’ve got a lot of players that can play. We executed the game plan well at times. We had some miscues here, turnovers here, things like that, but that happens in basketball. But overall, I ain’t mad about nothing.”

The loss for Scotland (21-4) was its third against Richmond (22-4) this season after also falling 55-47 in Laurinburg on Jan. 23

With a little under five minutes left, Scotland trailed Richmond by just four points before Rena Drake hit a layup plus a foul and completed the three-point play to put the Raiders’ lead at 51-44; Richmond’s Jamyia Lindsey then made a layup, but Scotland’s Morgan Thompson connected on a layup-and-1 on the other end to put it back at a six-point game with 3:14 to go. A pair of layups by Lindsey and Jasiah Gilchrist on the ensuing two Richmond possessions coupled as the final dagger, though, as Scotland scored just two more points in the last minute and 45 seconds, while Richmond had three more, all at the free-throw line.

Lindsey scored 27 points and Gilchrist had 15 for Richmond.

Thompson also scored 27 and Alicia McClain added nine for Scotland.

Scotland led 30-27 at halftime, but a fired-up Richmond squad opened the second half on an 11-0 run to claim a 38-30 lead; Scotland’s Madysan Hammonds ended the scoreless streak for Scotland with a 3-point shot from the left wing before the Raiders threw up seven more points on the scoreboard. Alicia McClain had a three-point possession following a foul on a made layup, and Thompson drilled two free throws to make it 45-38 with Richmond still in front after three quarters.

Alicia McClain made a floater and a baseline layup for the first four of Scotland’s six points to begin the fourth; Lindsey connected on a free throw, and Gilchrist had a layup in between Alicia McClain’s buckets, however, which put it at 48-44 with 4:33 to go before Drake’s basket-plus-1.

“I’m always proud of my girls,” Roshien McClain said. “I’m proud of the fans that were here for us, too. They were cheering us on. I really appreciate the refs. The refs were great. They talked us through it and everything, but I’m proud of my girls.”

Both teams were tied at 5-5 early in the first quarter before Madison Dixon netted five of the ensuing seven points by either team to push Scotland ahead 10-7; Thompson’s basket in the paint added two more points for the Lady Scots at the 3:52 mark.

“That’s what we need all the time,” Roshien McClain said. “That start has to happen all the time, and that will change a lot of things for us. We’ve been doing some things different in warm-ups, and we’ll continue to do the same thing.”

After Scotland held the early lead though, the Raiders closed the frame on a 12-2 run to take a 19-14 advantage.

The Lady Scots cut it to three twice in the first three minutes of the second, but the Raiders continued to answer to keep Scotland from sniffing the lead — until 1:16 was left in the half. Thompson put up a trio of points on a shot whistled with a foul for Scotland’s deficit to shrink to 25-24; Lindsey splashed in a pair for Richmond following a trip at the line, and Thompson provided a scorching end to the quarter with back-to-back 3s 32 seconds apart from each other to help Scotland snatch the lead at the half.

“That’s the way we have to play all the time, no matter who we’re playing,” Roshien McClain said. “If we play like that all the time, the sky is the limit. We have to play like that all the time; everybody in. But I’m really proud of how we fought tonight.”

The Lady Scots’ focus now shifts to the state playoffs, with brackets set to be released by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association on Saturday.

The Lady Scots earned the SAC’s automatic 3A bid, meaning they will hold a top-11 seed in the 3A East Region; HighSchoolOT projected Scotland as the ninth seed as of Monday, hosting No. 24 Cedar Ridge in the first round. In the RPI ranks, Scotland is 14th in the 3A East as of Friday morning.