Scotland basketball teams enjoy successful home openers | Laurinburg Exchange

LAURINBURG —The Lady Scots basketball team bounced back from a season opening loss to South Central with a 68-47 win over Montgomery Central in their home opener on Monday night at Scotland High School. Scotland improves to 1-1 with the victory while the Timberwolves fall to 2-4 with the loss. Head Coach Roshien McClain was glad to get into the win column and get some important experience for his younger players but knows there is still a lot to get better at.

“It feels very good and brings more camaraderie to the team,” McClain said. “There’s still room for improvement we left a lot of points on the board with some missed layups and free throws, I like that some of our younger kids got some quality action and contributed well.”

Scotland dominated the first eight minutes in just about every way there was to dominate. They got on the board first thanks to a layup from Kayla Simmons and started the game on a 6-0 run within the first 1:20 of the contest. Alicia McClain also had two made three pointers and two layups in the quarter alone while freshman Khloe Radford, playing in her first varsity Scotland home game, got on the scoresheet with a layup near the end of the quarter (1:10 remaining in it). All told, the Scots were up 29-7 after the first frame.

The second period was a little bit sluggish for Scotland, at least in comparison to the first eight minutes as they didn’t get their first points of the quarter until almost three minutes had passed (5:11 left in quarter) with Simmons getting another layup. The Scots still won the quarter 12-10 and went into the locker room up comfortably 41-17.

Scotland then coasted through the third frame, actually getting outscored (narrowly) by Montgomery Central 15-14. Morgan Thompson had a pair of layups early in the quarter as well as an assist on a layup from Asiah McInnis, who had six points in the quarter. All told the period was rather uneventful as the Scots ended the frame still up 55-32.

The Scots controlled the start of the fourth and final frame as Radford got the scoring started with about a minute gone by before McClain rebounded her own miss and scored another layup shortly after. Scotland started the quarter on a 6-0 run over the first three minutes before the Timberwolves finally scored. They would cruise to the finish line from there and pick up their first victory of the 2024 season in convincing fashion.

Thompson was Scotland’s leading scorer on the night with 21 points while McClain had 19. Radford and McInnis added six points apiece. McClain was happy to see Radford contribute in a meaningful way early in her varsity career, knowing that he’ll need some of the younger girls to chip in as the season goes on.

“We’re going to need them to grow game by game and practice by practice,” McClain said. “She showed the ability to get out and run the floor, I told them once Alicia and Morgan get the rebounds to go and they’ll find you.”

The Scots will remain at home for a Friday night battle against conference rival Hoke County. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. from Scotland High School. McClain is aware that games against SAC opponents carry a lot of importance, even if it’s early in the season.

“I expect Hoke to come in here and play hard and aggressive,” McClain said. “Conference wins are important, it doesn’t matter who the team is you have to do it the right way.”

Boys basketball routs Montgomery Central in season opener

The Scotland boys basketball team defeated Montgomery Central in their season opener by a score of 81-56 on Monday night at Scotland High School. The Scots improve to 1-0 on the season with the victory while the Timberwolves wrap up their three game SAC tour and fall to 0-3 with the loss. Head Coach Michael Malpass saw a lot of promise in his team and is especially excited to see what his group will look like in the future.

“Our team speed is going to be good when we have better concepts, conceptually tonight we caused some problems,” Malpass said. “I’m proud of our guys tonight, our identity is not set but I’m proud of the win.”

The Scots started the first quarter off fast, with Marquis McNeill getting a rebound and put back on Scotland’s first possession of the game before Jerrison Dixon converted an and one to quickly put the Scots up 5-0 within a minute of action. They would be up 7-1 after 2.5 minutes but allow the Timberwolves to hang around to the point where it was 11-7 until the Scots scored eight unanswered points and finished the quarter on a 12-3 run to be up 23-10 after eight minutes.

Scotland then dominated the second frame, outscoring Montgomery Central 26-4. The Scots went into the locker room up 49-14.

The Scots did struggle during the third quarter as they were outscored by Montgomery Central 21-10. McNeill did draw a foul and had a nice put back while Dixon knocked down a three-pointer but otherwise Scotland couldn’t put together much consistent offense and had their lead trimmed to 59-35 after 24 minutes.

Scotland played better in the final frame, scoring 22 points to 18 for the Timberwolves. Kam Prince made his lone three-pointer of the contest during the period while Dixon connected on an alley-oop to LeSean Pittman shortly after. Those were the main highlights of the final eight minutes, which mainly saw the Scots coast to the finish line of a victorious season opener.

Dixon paced Scotland in scoring with 28 points while Tomek McFadden added 17. McNeill and Pittman had 15 and 12, respectively. Malpass praised Dixon after the game for his intangibles and ability to do small things consistently well.

“He’s smart and he knows how to create separation,” Malpass said. “He’s a student of the game and he picks up on the little things, really proud of him.”

The Scots will remain at home for a Friday night battle against conference rival Hoke County with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from Scotland High School. In the meantime, Malpass is looking forward to bringing in some reinforcements via some members of the football team as they prepare for Friday’s matchup.

“That’s going to give us some more speed and help us conceptually because some of those guys have some experience, I’m looking forward to some additions.” Malpass said. “Hoke is always athletic and they’re going to be well coached, we’re going to have to be tougher.”