PEMBROKE — The Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team opened its shortened season with a loss on Tuesday.
Playing at Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Purnell Swett High School, the Lady Raiders dropped a 62-35 decision.
Senior point guard Jayla McDougald scored a team-high 12 points, and sophomore shooting guard Kyla Sampson hit double figures with 11 points.
Junior forward Jamiya Ratliff netted seven points and collected a team-high 12 rebounds in the loss.
Head coach Teddy Moseley cited a slow second quarter and the team’s inability to box out as a couple of areas that need an early-season improvement. Richmond was also without two starters, senior Jakerra Covington and junior Allyiah Swiney.
“We did okay, especially when we came out strong,” Moseley said. “The second quarter was bad for us. We didn’t box out and got killed on the boards, which plagued us.
“Purnell Swett went to a box-and-one defense against Jayla in the second quarter and we were just missing that second ball handler. That’s where we missed Allyiah, and we missed Jakerra on the rebounding.”
Purnell Swett’s Kylie Chavis, the reigning Sandhills Athletic Conference player of the year, scored a game-high 16 points.
Richmond got off to a fast start in the first quarter, rolling to a 5-0 lead thanks to a jumper and a three-pointer from McDougald. But the Lady Rams rallied with a 14-point run that ended with a Sampson triple, her first of three on the night.
Chavis hit a three ball with 10 seconds left in the opening frame to give Purnell Swett a 17-8 lead.
The second quarter was all Purnell Swett, which outscored the Lady Raiders 21-5. Chavis had eight points in the stanza and teammate Nyla Mitchell chipped in six of her 11 points.
The only Lady Raiders to net points in the second were Sampson (three-pointer) and senior Asia Douglas, who hit a mid-range jumper. At the half, Richmond trailed 38-13.
“I’m proud of how Jayla played defensively tonight,” Moseley said of his floor general. “She played a great game against the defending conference player of the year. Overall, she kept (Chavis) in check.”
Richmond’s best scoring quarter was the third, which saw the Lady Raiders go off for 18 points in eight minutes. McDougald led the way with seven points, including five free throws. Sampson nailed down her final triple of the game and added a base-line drive.
Ratliff also joined the scoring action, banking a pair of shots off the glass for four points. Sophomore C’Nedra Hinson scored her first varsity points with a transition layup.
McDougald said she was glad to get the chance to play against another team and said the loss was a good teaching moment moving forward.
“It felt good to get out here and play against another team. That let us see what we have against an aggressive team,” she said.
“We learned we need to work even harder in practice and step up our aggressiveness. It was a good teaching moment for us.”
Purnell Swett put the game away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Richmond 12-4. Ratliff hit a three-pointer from the left corner and senior center Davionna Campbell added a free throw for the Lady Raiders.
“It’s nothing that Purnell Swett did tonight, it’s what we didn’t do,” Moseley explained. “They got too many wide-open looks.
“The girls got their feet wet tonight and they’ve experienced the game and know the speed. The main thing is we have to box out. We hung our heads in the second quarter, but now we need to turn around and get ready for Pinecrest.”
The Lady Raiders (0-1 SAC) will look to pick up their first win of the season when they travel to Pinecrest High School on Friday. Tip is set for 5 p.m. in Southern Pines.
Richmond last played the Lady Patriots in the opening round of the SAC tournament, an eight-point loss that ended its season.
