WADESBORO — There was no love lost in the rich rivalry between Anson and Richmond high schools, and the two boys’ basketball programs showed that on the hardwood Thursday.
In what proved to be a physical back-and-forth battle, the Raiders used a strong fourth-quarter performance to distance themselves to a 68-59 win.
The nine-point win helped the Raiders improve to 2-0 on the season and made it the best start under third-year head coach Donald Pettigrew.
Both teams would go on a series of offensive runs throughout the opening three quarters, and the Raiders and Bearcats entered the final eight minutes of play tied at 41 points.
That’s when the Raiders buckled down in crunch time and outscored Anson 27-18, seeing three different players net at least six points. Junior point guard PJ McLaughlin, who’d been held scoreless all night, exploded for a team-high 12 points in the final stanza, hitting four field goals and four free throws.
Seniors Quamir Sivels and Jarvis Tillman combined to match McLaughlin’s 12 points, each scoring six points down the stretch. Both players would finish the game with 11 points.
“I told the guys that teams going on runs is a part of basketball,” Pettigrew said after the game. “We faced a little adversity tonight and we responded well. PJ and Quamir were holding guys accountable and that’s their job as our guards.
“Our experience allowed us to not get down late,” he added. “It’s tough to win on the road and this is an old rivalry. This was a really good win for us.”
The Bearcats set the pace early, rolling out to a 5-0 lead, and would end the first quarter with a 10-8 advantage over the visitors. Junior forward Nygie Stroman, who scored a game-high 21 points and finished one rebound shy of a double-double, notched his first four points in the frame.
Tillman matched Stroman, putting back two buckets off the glass from the paint. He would finish the game with his first double-double of the year, adding 12 boards and five blocks to his stat sheet.
Four different Raiders would score in the second quarter, seeing Stroman lead the way with eight points. A pair of made free throws was followed by two hard drives and made and-one opportunities for the 6-foot-7 big.
Sophomore Jalen David also joined the scoring mix, draining all seven of his points in the second eight-minute period. Junior Dylan Lewis clocked a three-pointer to put Richmond up 18-17 with 5:05 remaining, and the Raiders maintained pace to close the half with a 31-23 lead.
Richmond opened the second half with a bang, seeing McLaughlin lace a no-look pass through traffic to Stroman along the baseline, who leapt up and slammed home a one-handed jam to put the Raiders up 10 points.
But the third quarter belonged to the Bearcats, as the home team rallied several times to knot the game at 41 points that saw Masson Sanderson make a step-back three at the buzzer to tie it.
Teammate Lance Shuler helped close the gap in the final three minutes, making three layups in transition to set up Sanderson’s triple. Shuler’s last bucket came after a steal by John Williams at halfcourt.
In the opening minute of the fourth, McLaughlin drove through the paint for his first basket of the night, and Sivels hit both ends of a one-and-one a couple of series later to give the Raiders their final lead of the game, 45-44.
Following that, Richmond turned on its offensive jets and went on a 10-0 run that saw solo free throws by McLaughlin and Lewis, a Sivels floater, a Tillman putback, and Stroman made an uncontested breakaway one-handed slam. McLaughlin capped the game-changing run when he made a steal and laid it into the hoop in transition.
Anson tried to answer with three-pointers from Sanderson and Sam Ingram, but it was too little, too late for the home team. Down the stretch in the double bonus, Tillman added four free throws, and McLaughlin collected his final five points in the closing 90 seconds.
On the night, McLaughlin led the Raiders with seven assists.
“In the fourth quarter, we stepped up defensively and stopped Anson (0-2) from running baseline,” Pettigrew explained. “We tuned in and focused more on scoring and playing defense.
“Now we have a whole week off from games, so we’re going to get in the gym and work on that,” he closed.
The Raiders (2-0) will enjoy the Thanksgiving break before getting back to competition against non-conference Southern Lee High School (0-2) at home on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
