ROCKINGHAM — Richmond Senior High School’s boys’ basketball team saw its magical run at a 4A state championship come to an end on Tuesday.
Hosting No. 5 Cleveland High School in the fourth round of the NCHSAA 4A East playoffs, the No. 1 Raiders fell 83-62.
Facing a “physical” Rams team, the Raiders saw their 11-game winning streak also come to a close. Making it to the elite eight of the East bracket was the farthest Richmond has gone in 25 seasons.
Sophomore five-star recruit Paul McNeil capped his second varsity season with a game-high 33 points and added a double-double with 16 rebounds.
Two other Raiders scored double digits in the loss. Junior wing Dakota Chavis had 12 points and three rebounds and sophomore Javian Drake tallied 10 points and three boards.
Sophomore Paul McNeil (2) blocks a shot by Trey Fields in the first half of Tuesday’s playoff game. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
The Rams used 22 points from Trey Fields and 20 points by Dylan Wiggins to advance to the East regional championship. Jayse Barrett (14 points) and Baron Williams (10 points) both added double figures.
Coming ready to play, Cleveland (30-1) outmatched the Raiders down low and used a 16-0 run in the first quarter to set the tempo.
Aside from an opening three-pointer from McNeil in the first 1:15 of the game, the Raiders never held a lead. McNeil had 12 points in the first quarter on two triples, two field goals and two free throws.
Drake added a three-pointer to start his scoring. With five seconds left in the period, McNeil splashed down a three-pointer to cut it to a 23-15 deficit.
Cleveland outscored Richmond by two points in the second to take a 37-27 lead into halftime. Two drives by McNeil and a free throw gave him 17 points at the break and Drake hit another three and a drive for five more points.
Senior Will Dawkins (42) pulls up for a mid-range jumper for his two points. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Senior Will Dawkins hit a mid-range jumper for his two points of the game, while also adding four rebounds. Junior Zion Baldwin, Richmond’s second-leading rebounder, did not play due to an injury.
A scoring run of 24-13 in the third quarter by the Rams distanced them for good. Chavis kept the Raiders in it with nine of his 12 points coming in the third, scoring a triple, a bucket and four free throws.
Both Drake and McNeil added two points in the third, but Cleveland carried a 61-40 lead into the final stanza.
Junior Dakota Chavis (5) drives hard to the hoop for two points in the third quarter. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Despite being down by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter, head coach Donald Pettigrew’s Raiders never threw in the towel.
McNeil picked up the pace and scored his final 14 points in the last eight minutes. He had five field goals, one last triple from the left side and chipped in a shot from the line.
Sophomore Jamarion Wall scored all five of his points in the fourth, hitting a jumper, a drive and a free throw. Chavis ended his season’s scoring with a three-pointer from the right corner with just over four minutes to play.
Although the Raiders fell short of their goal of winning the state title, Pettigrew and company had an historic season in 2021-22.
The team set a single-season record with 26 wins, had the program’s best winning percentage (92.3%) and set the program record with the fewest regular-season losses with one.
Other notables included the most wins to start a season (15), tying the record for the most consecutive wins (15), winning its 13th career conference title and eclipsing the 2,000 point mark as a team for just the fifth time.
Sophomore Javian Drake (3) scored 10 points in Richmond’s playoff loss on Tuesday. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
The Richmond Observer will release the 2021-22 All-Sandhills Athletic Conference team later this week.
