ROCKINGHAM – Cordova Middle School is a name that a lot of long-time residents of Richmond County are still getting used to. Since replacing the now-closed Rohanen Middle School in 2017, it’s difficult for many area sports fans to get used to the Cavaliers as being one-fourth of the Richmond Raider feeder programs.
However, on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, the Cordova boys basketball team posted back-to-back wins letting everyone know that the Cordova Cavaliers are indeed worthy of Raider Nation’s attention.
Jamarion Wall combined to score 51 points in the two-night sweep, leading the Cavaliers to a 45-41 come-from-behind victory over Anson Middle School on Wednesday, followed by a big 54-43 home victory over in-county rival Ellerbe Middle School on Thursday.
The final quarter of the game between Cordova and the visiting Anson Bearcats was all any basketball fan could ask for. Although he had been limited to only two points in the first three quarters, Jamison Jones took control of things with around 5:30 remaining in the game and his team trailing Anson 34-29.
After Wall found Jones in the paint, Jones managed to lay the ball in while taking a hard foul in the process. He connected on the ensuing free throw, completing the old-fashioned three-point play.
Fourteen seconds later, Isaiah Lockhart delivered a strike to Jones in the paint again. This time, Jones split two defenders and delivered a floater that dropped softly through the net tying the score at 34-all with 5:10 remaining.
From there, things got exciting. The final five minutes saw four ties and three lead changes. After another Jones floater gave the Cavaliers a 40-39 lead with 2:02 left in the game, the Cavaliers went to work on the clock and wisely kept the ball in the hands of Wall as much as possible.
Anson temporarily regained the lead once more at 41-40, but a free throw from Lockhart and three clutch free throws from Wall would account for the game’s remaining points.
Wall (who averages 23 points per game) finished with a team-high 24 against Anson. Jones’ seven points in the fourth quarter pushed him to nine for the game. Frazion Steele followed with seven, and Lockhart netted five.
Following the game, head coach Gerald Ratliff also credited Christopher Grey with several big assists in the game and complimented David Pickett for being a big defensive presence.
In Thursday’s Cordova victory over the Ellerbe Wildcats, both teams featured two double-digit scorers. Wall once again led all scorers with an impressive 27 points on the afternoon. He was followed by Steele with 11. For the Wildcats, it was Emoni McBride and Jh’Kwon Covington who scored 19 and 18 in the game respectively. The four leading scores accounted for 75 of the game’s 97 total points.
Cordova remained in control for the majority of the game, and their 54-43 win makes their first double-digit victory this season. The win avenged the 45-34 loss to the Wildcats in Ellerbe last season.
With the two victories, Cordova improves to 3-4 while Ellerbe drops to 2-7.
The Cordova Lady Cavaliers were not as fortunate. They dropped a 29-15 decision to Anson on Wednesday followed by a tough 39-7 defeat to Ellerbe on Thursday.
The Lady Cavaliers fought valiantly against Anson for two and-a-half quarters. In a very physical, defensive game, Cordova on trailed by a point, 10-9, with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. From there, the Lady Bearcat offense came to life. They closed out the quarter on an 8-2 run and then outscored Cordova 11-4 in the fourth to cruise to victory.
Yasmin McLaughlin led the way for the Lady Cavs scoring 11 of the team’s 15 points.
When Ellerbe travelled to Cordova on Thursday, it was all Lady Wildcats. Curtia Crump led all scorers with 15 for Ellerbe followed by teammate Nyla Stroman who netted 15. Maddie Maree, Symone Terry, and Jasmin Martinez all contributed points for the Lady Wildcats in the victory.
Ellerbe improved to 6-2 while Cordova dropped to 0-7 on the season.
Both Cordova teams will travel to Hamlet on Monday (Jan. 28) before closing out the season at East Hoke on Thursday (Jan. 31). Ellerbe will travel to West Hoke on Monday before hosting Hamlet in the season finale on Thursday.
