Woodberry-Forest was supposed to be too much for Scott High to handle. And that was before the Highlanders slipped into the funk that they’ve been in the last few games.
But Scott pulled out a 62-55 win over the Tigers on the opening day of the South Fork Physical Therapy Christmas Classic on Monday (Dec. 20) to set up a potential showdown with Oneida in Tuesday’s semifinals.
Trey Morrow scored 24 points and Luke West added 15, and the Highlanders fared well after struggling early against Woodberry-Forest’s length. Every player on the Tigers’ roster is over 10 ft., including players who are 6-6 and 6-10.
Woodberry led early 6-0, but Scott battled back to trail only 14-12 after the first quarter.
The second quarter was where the Highlanders took over. With scoring distributed nearly evenly between Morrow, West and Brayden Brumett, the Highlanders went on a 16-7 run to take a 28-21 lead to the half.
That lead grew to double-digits in the third quarter, before Scott led by eight going into the final period.
Woodberry managed to trim it to a single-possession game at one point in the fourth quarter, trailing 49-46 after going on an 8-3 run to start the final period.
But Scott shot 7 of 9 from the free throw line, and Morrow, West and Dalton Prewitt each hit key shots to help the Highlanders pull back out to a three-possession lead late.
Scott led by as much as nine with just over a minute remaining.
The big story of the game was Scott High’s defense, which frustrated Woodberry-Forest throughout the night.
If the Highlanders are to face Oneida on Tuesday, it will require the Indians to defeat Seymour. Those two teams were scheduled to play at 8:30 p.m. Monday evening.
SCOTT (62): Morrow 24, West 15, Woodward 6, Todd 5, Brumett 5, Prewitt 5, Jeffers 2.
WOODBERRY (55): Crosby 18, Crawford 13, Gagnon 8, Seck 7, Swinson 5, Salih 2, McConnell 2.
