RAEFORD — Helping complete the sweep of Hoke County High School on Tuesday was the Richmond Senior High School boys’ junior varsity basketball team.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders would combine to go 5-0 against their Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent. Helping get it done early on the road was a 66-60 win for head coach Kenta Hutchinson and the JV Raiders.
“This was just another hard-fought team win on the road,” Hutchinson said. “I told the guys going into Tuesday that Hoke County is a tough place to play and was going to be intense and physical.
“Hoke came to play today, but we just wanted this one a little more,” he continued. “Down to seven players on our roster, those seven guys battled the entire game, and it can be tough to win at this level with those types of numbers.”
He added that the team has accepted those circumstances and has risen to the challenge the last couple of games. The Raiders trailed by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter, but Hutchinson’s team rallied to complete the comeback win.
Sophomore Deshon Watson hit a late three-pointer to give the Raiders the lead, and fellow sophomore Travion Dumas added “some clutch free throws” down the stretch to seal the win.
Leading the way for the Raiders was freshman point guard Dakota Chavis, who scored 15 points, with 10 points coming in a strong first half. Watson and sophomore Luke Williams both added 11 points in the win.
Just shy of double figures were Dumas and sophomore Xavier Collazo, who each pushed through nine points. Rounding out Richmond’s scoring were freshman Zion Baldwin and sophomore Micah Jackson with seven and four points, respectively.
Seven points from Baldwin in the opening frame, along with Chavis’ first five tallies, helped the Raiders get out to a 19-16 lead. Williams added a triple and Jackson and Watson each netted a bucket.
Hoke County would battle back in the second quarter to tie the game at 31 points going into halftime. Five more points from Chavis and a triple from Collazo kept the Raiders close on the scoreboard.
Trailing 50-42 at the end of the third quarter, the Raiders rallied to put up 24 points on the board in the fourth to take the road win. Watson hit a three, a jumper and added two free throws for seven points, while Dumas matched those points, with two field goals and three free throws.
Williams added his final five points and Collazo netted three free throws.
“I’m just really proud of this group of guys for how they’ve been playing,” Hutchinson closed.
The JV Raiders improved to 13-6 overall and 6-5 against SAC opponents. Next up will be Lumberton at home on Friday, starting at 6 p.m.
