BLADENBORO – Junior Jaiquez Caldwell scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the final quarter to key a 22-10 closing run that propelled Scotland to a 58-44 victory over West Bladen Thursday in the 2nd round of the Bladen Offroad Christmas Tournament.
The Knights, now 8-3, will play Dillon Christian Friday at 2 p.m. in the tourney’s consolation bracket. Scotland improved to 7-2 and will battle Whiteville Friday at 4 p.m. in the tournament’s 5th place game. Whiteville defeated Dillon Christian 70-49 Thursday.
The Fighting Scots carried a 36-34 lead into the final period, but Caldwell popped in a 12-footer, and senior Terrel Reed put back a rebound. Knight sophomore Hezekiah Adams drove for a lay-up, but Caldwell sandwiched a pair of 12-footers around Andre Moore’s corner jumper for West as the lead grew to 44-38 with 5:28 on the clock.
Adams delivered a free throw and a driving bank shot, but senior Isaac Ferguson drove for a pair of lay-ups to pad the lead to 48-41 at the 3:40 mark. The Scots closed out the game at the foul line connecting on 10 of 11 attempts – 6 of 6 by Caldwell – while West Bladen managed only a 3-point basket from freshman Tylik McCall.
“They made three 12-footers in a row which is hard to do and they made their free throws,” said Knight Coach Travis Pait. “I am not mad or upset about this one. This was one of the best games that we have played this year. Scotland is really good. I thought we handled adversity well tonight.”
Ferguson finished with 14 points, and 6-6 senior Lamonte Cousar battled inside for 17 points.
Adams topped the Knight scoring list with 16 points and had 3 steals. Freshman Jackson Pait fired in 13 points. Moore contributed 5 points, and 6-6 sophomore Chase Williams pulled down 10 rebounds, blocked 3 shots and tallied 4 points. McCall grabbed 5 rebounds, and senior Walter Bealon corralled 4 rebounds.
Pait drained a 3-point shot and a free throw, and Adams turned a steal into a lay-up to edge West ahead 6-4 early. Pait threw in another 3-ball, and Adams sprinted for a transition lay-up. Pait nailed another 3-ball from near the mid-court logo, and Bealon swished a 3-ball to extend the Knight lead to 17-8 at the break.
Adams buried a 3-point shot, and Williams dropped in a lay-up off of an in-bounds pass from Moore. However Cousar powered in 7 points during a 16-5 run that pushed the Scots ahead 24-22 at halftime on a Caldwell lay-up.
Moore, Adams and Pait drilled in 3-point shots to keep the Knights ahead 31-28 midway the 3rd period. Adams made a free throw, but Caldwell and Cousar netted lay-ups for Scotland. Williams muscled in a lay-up to knot the score again 34-34, but Ferguson’s lay-up put Scotland up 36-34 at the 3rd quarter break.
Scotland 8 16 12 22 – 58
West Bladen 17 5 12 10 –44
SCOTLAND (58) – Tashad Russell, Isaac Ferguson 14, Jaiquez Caldwell 19, Lamonte Cousar 17, Lamontez Cousar 1, Carter Revelle 3, Jonathan Graham 2, Nick McCall, Tre Williams, Terrel Reed 2.
WEST BLADEN (47) – Jackson Pait 13, Hezekiah Adams 16, Bryce Fuller, Tylik McCall 3, Elijah McCollum, Andre Moore 5, Cornelius Esters, Gary Parker, Walter Bealon 3, Chase Williams 4.
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