Home Local Sports Close conference opener goes in Lady Raiders’ favor

Close conference opener goes in Lady Raiders’ favor

Junior Makailah Jackson (50) pulls down one of her rebounds in Richmond's second straight win. (Kyle Pillar, sports editor)

SANFORD — Continuing to find its groove, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team notched its second straight win on Tuesday.

Back in action for the first time in a week and half, the Lady Raiders opened Sandhills Athletic Conference play against Southern Lee High School.

In what proved to be a defensive, low-scoring battle, Richmond and head coach Teddy Moseley netted a 36-26 win.

Slow offensive starts by both teams led to ties of 6-6 and 14-14 at the end of the first and second quarters, respectively.

The Lady Raiders opened the game on a 5-0 run, seeing sophomore Quanna Bostic score three of her points on a free throw and a drive. Senior guard C’Nedra Hinson added a transition bucket for the first of her eight points.

A 6-0 run by the Lady Cavaliers undid Richmond’s lead, but junior Keyoni Nichols hit a free throw with 1:01 left in the quarter to tie it up. She finished tied with Hinson with a team-high eight points.

Both teams traded buckets in the second quarter, with Hinson netting a pair of field goals to lead the way with four points. Nichols added two points and senior forward Nyla Stroman hit a putback for her two points in the win.

The third quarter followed the same pattern, as Richmond and Southern Lee (3-4, 0-1 SAC) switched leads several times. Junior Makailah Jackson, Richmond’s leading rebounder, scored the first of her six points early in the third.

A close-range jumper from Hinson and two free throws from junior forward C’Niya Hinson gave Richmond a five-point lead, 20-17, with 3:43 left.

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Helping the Lady Raiders take a 22-19 lead into the fourth quarter was Nichols, who knocked down two more shots from the line.

Opening the door in the fourth stanza, Richmond scored 14 points in the final eight minutes. 

Starting a 6-2 run was a free throw from Nichols, who was joined by three straight points from Jackson and a C’Niya Hinson layup following a steal.

In the final 3:25 of regulation, the Lady Raiders held off the Lady Cavs with an 8-3 run. 

Contributing to that stretch were C’Niya Hinson with three points, Bostic and Nichols with two points each and another Jackson free throw.

C’Niya Hinson finished with seven points and Bostic had five points for the Lady Raiders.

Makayla Hall finished with a game-high 12 points for Southern Lee, helped out by 10 points from Zamaria Mellette.

The Lady Raiders (2-5, 1-0 SAC) have the rest of the week off and will play at non-conference Cape Fear High School (3-3) next Tuesday at 7 p.m.



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Kyle Pillar is a 22-time North Carolina Press Association award-winning sports editor with The Richmond Observer. Follow the sports department on X @ROSports_ for the best in-depth coverage of Richmond County sports.