LAURINBURG — Completing the total five-team sweep over Scotland High School on the hardwood Friday were the junior varsity and Ninth Grade Academy boys’ basketball teams.
The varsity Lady Raider and Raider basketball teams squeaked out wins on their home floor, each winning by nine points or less, while the junior varsity Lady Raiders blew out Scotland by a final score of 74-42.
JV Raiders edge Scotland on Baldwin’s big night
Sophomore Jakolbe Baldwin only scored one point against Seventy-First on Tuesday, but he made up for it against the Fighting Scots as he tallied 18 points. He was two rebounds away from a double-double, as he also snagged eight boards.
After a rougher start to the season than he wanted his team to have, head coach Tony Terry has seen the tide start turning in the right direction. With the back-to-back wins, the JV Raiders improved to 5-7 overall and 4-3 against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents.
“We’re a young team, but we grew up last night,” Terry said of the Scotland win. “The guys left it all on the court and that’s all I ask for. I feel like everything is starting to fall in place and we are playing much better since the start of the season.”
Ahead of the game, Terry “told the guys it was going to be a dog fight” and that they had to “come in mentally prepared.” He was right, as each half was won by either team on the scoreboard. The first quarter ended in a tie 10-all, before the Raiders opened it up to a 24-21 halftime lead.
Leading the Raiders in scoring in the first half was sophomore Dalton Stroman, who netted all eight of his points. He followed up his double-double from Tuesday with nearly another, by adding a team-high 12 rebounds.
Baldwin didn’t score any points in the first 16 minutes of regulation, instead waiting to add six in the third quarter and explode for 12 in the final frame. Ten of his points came off field goals, while he added the final eight from the free throw line.
“Jakolbe had a great night and he made some big free throws throughout the game,” Terry shared. “CJ Tillman hit a big three (in the third quarter) to tie it up, and Jakolbe sealed the win from the free throw line. Dalton was big for us on the rebounding end.”
The Fighting Scots outscored Richmond 33-32 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the first-half deficit. Other notable performances for Richmond came from Tillman (eight points, nine boards), De Shon Watson (six points) and Isaiah Jones (five points).
Way’s last-second free throws propel NGA Raiders past Fighting Scots
Earlier in the week, the Ninth Grade Academy Raiders were a part of the Richmond boys’ basketball sweep over Seventy-First High School. They continued their solid play, improving to 6-1 overall, with a nail-biting 41-40 win over Scotland.
The game came down to the final minute, but head coach Taivon Jones’ team relied on fundamentals to pull of the one-point win. Cameron Way came in clutch from the free throw line, draining two shots late to ice the game.
“We were down by one point with 40 seconds to go,” Jones explained. “(Scotland) fouled Cameron and then they got a technical foul, which gave Cameron four free throws. He hit the first and last to give us a one-point lead.”
The exciting finish came after a slow start by the Raiders, as they trailed 22-17 at halftime. Thirteen first-quarter points, five from Javares Stanback, gave Richmond a 13-5 lead, but the Fighting Scots bounced back to outscore the Raiders 17-4 in the second.
Harley Honeycutt and KeSean Ingram were the leading scorers for Richmond, finishing with nine points. Honeycutt had four in the first quarter and added his final five in the second half, while Ingram flip-flopped with five in the first half and four in the second.
Stanback netted seven points, and Jaiden Covington put up all six of his points in the third quarter. Scotland’s leading scorer was Adonis Leak, who had a game-high 19 points.
“Scotland got the ball back with seven seconds but missed the shot,” Jones concluded. “Cason Douglas secured the ball to hold onto the win.”
Both teams will head to Purnell Swett High School on Friday, Jan. 23, to face the Rams. NGA will begin at 4:30 p.m., and the JV Raiders will play a 6 p.m.
