DUBLIN — Behind the hot shooting of Niem Ratfliffe, the Scotland boy’s basketball team earned a 74-60 victory over West Bladen on Thursday in the semifinals of the Woodmen Life Christmas tournament.

Ratliffe scored a game-high 21 points, including five 3-pointers, to pace the Scots, who will play Clinton tonight at 8 p.m. in the championship game.

Ratliffe made four of his five treys in the first quarter and finished the half with 17 points to help Scotland carry a 31-28 lead into the half.

Isaiah Bostick dropped 11 points on the night, including a pair of rim-rattling dunks, to help the Scots pull away in the second half.

Scott Bowen and Jimmy Williams tallied 15 points to lead the Knights, who will play South Brunswick at 6 p.m. tonight.

Dark Horses knock down 14 three-pointers in win

Clinton had a pair of players drain five 3-pointers each in the Dark Horses’ 82-67 win over South Brunswick on Thursday night in the semifinals of the Woodmen Life Christmas tournament.

Kris Williams ripped the net for five 3-pointers en route to dropping a game-high 22 points for the Dark Horses, who used a 31-point third quarter to pull away from the Cougars.

Xavier Howard also had five treys for Clinton, finishing with 17 points. Zion Autry rounded out the Dark Horses in double figures with 14 points, including a one-handed power dunk to get the crowd amped up.

Jace McKenney knocked down a quartet of 3-pointers and finished with 14 points for South Brunswick, which was stifled by Clinton’s man-to-man defense in the second half. Andrew Mosley had 16 points and A.J. Rossi tallied 12 points for the Cougars.

East Bladen beats Whiteville for 1st victory

Sincere Smith and Adonis Avery helped the East Bladen boy’s basketball team earn its first victory of the season with a 62-50 win over Whiteville on Thursday in the Woodmen Life Christmas tournament.

Smith scored a game-best 21 points for the Eagles, with Avery tallying 18 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.

Cam Richardson scored all 14 of his points in the second half to pace the Wolfpack.

Dillon will face Whiteville at 2 p.m. to tip things off on Friday, followed by First Flight and East Bladen at 4 p.m.

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By Rodd Baxley

Sports Editor

Rodd Baxley can be reached at 910-416-5182 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RoddBaxley.