SOUTHERN PINES — After riding a wave of success during its first five games of the season, the Richmond Senior High School junior varsity boys’ basketball team suffered its first defeat.
Traveling to Pinecrest High School on Friday for their second Sandhills Athletic Conference game, the JV Raiders fell 54-44 to the Patriots. Richmond’s record is now 5-1 overall and 1-1 against SAC competition.
The 44 points were a season low for the Raiders, although sophomore guard Xavier Collazo matched his season high with 20 points in the loss. He was hot from beyond the arc, scoring a team-high five three-pointers. He also scored 20 points against Purnell Swett High School last week.
Sophomore forward Luke Williams recorded 13 points for Richmond, while freshman Dakota Chavis chipped in five points. Collazo scored 14 points in the final two quarters, helping eliminate a deficit by as many as 20 points.
A slow start by the Raiders saw Pinecrest jump out to a 20-7 lead in the first quarter. Collazo, Chavis and Williams combined for Richmond’s 15 total points in the first half. Pinecrest took a 31-15 lead into the break.
Head coach Kenta Hutchinson said his team played with more aggressiveness in the second half, seeing Collazo and Williams find their groove. Also contributing in the second half were Chavis, Micah Jackson and Deshon Watson.
In the fourth quarter, Richmond netted 18 points and cut the lead to four points with two minutes remaining. But Hutchinson said the Raiders “couldn’t pull off” the comeback.
Richmond will look to return to the win column when it hosts Cheraw High School in a non-conference game Monday starting at 5 p.m.
Freshman Raiders suffer first loss
Ahead of the JV team’s loss, the Richmond County Ninth Grade Academy boys’ basketball team also lost to Pinecrest. The freshman Raiders dropped a 53-49 decision to the Patriots.
Leading scorers were Zay Wall (14 points), Zay Hubbard 13 points and Emoni McBride (9 points).
Head coach Taivon Jones and the freshman Raiders (1-1) will return to the court following the holiday break at home against Jack Britt High School.
Note: no score was reported for the junior varsity girls’ game.
