LAURINBURG — The Fighting Scots basketball team defended their home court twice this week — against Douglas Byrd on Tuesday and Union Pines on Wednesday — both times the Scots walked off the hardwood victorious.
In their second meeting of the season with the Eagles, the Scots showed their offensive dominance with a 61-47 win. It wasn’t quite a large of a margin as the first time the two teams met last month in Fayetteville. The Scots might have scored fewer points but head coach Matt Justin’s squad shared the love and had three players in double figures.
Junior Justin McRae paced the Scots against Douglas Byrd with 18 points followed by senior Tyrese Baucum and junior Niem Ratliffe with 10 points a piece.
“We had good balance offensively,” said Justin. “I thought our defense was the best it’s been all year — in spurts anyway. A win is a win at this point in the season.”
The Scots then turned around the following day and hosted non-conference opponent Union Pines. That game was dominated by the Scots from beginning to end. In the first half, the Scots offense was led by senior Greg McMillian who came off the bench and drained back-to-back three point jumpers to extend the Scots lead to six points, 12-6. McMillian also had a block at the other end of the court.
At the end of the first 12 minutes of play the Scots had a 14-8 lead. Union Pines managed to cut into the Scots lead with back-to-bask baskets down low by the Vikings big man, Kamua Farley. Ratliffe then forced a steal before taking the ball coast to coast for the basket. A basket and a foul on Baucum quickly extended the Scots lead to 21-14.
The Vikings remained within striking distance of the Scots for the rest of the second quarter, as the Scots went into the locker room with an eight-point lead, 33-25.
The Scots defense started the second half with a steal, but an offensive foul on Baucum allowed the Vikings to sink a basket by Cameron Williams. A second basket and a three-point shot by Union Pines cut the Scots lead to just three before the Scots defense turned up the pressure.
Ratliffe picked the Vikings pocket at mid-court and forced the foul to pick up two points for the Scots. A steal by junior Janoan McRae led to a basket by McMillian to give the Scots a little breathing room, 39-32.
The Scots went on a 6-0 run to end the third quarter with a 45-32 lead over Union Pines. Another three-point shot from McMillian before he stole the ball and dumped it down low to senior Al Farmer for the go-ahead basket. The two teams finished the last few minutes of the game exchanging trips to the free-throw line.
The Scots made eight trips to the line while the Vikings only made two. Taking advantage of the free points, the Scots were 10 of 20 in the final minutes of Wednesday’s game. When the final buzzer sounded the Scots improved to 3-1 overall for the season with a 64-52 win over Union Pines.
Coach Justin and the Scots will remain at home on Tuesday, Dec. 6 to take on Jack Britt before traveling to Marlboro County on Wednesday. Dec. 7. Both games will start at approximately 7:30 p.m., depending on when the varsity girls game finish.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.
