ROCKINGHAM — A slow offensive start, coupled with missed free throws and layups down the stretch, is what Richmond Senior High School head girls’ junior varsity coach Demi Watkins said led to the Lady Raiders’ second straight loss.
Hosting Cheraw High School on Monday to close the non-conference season series, the Lady Raiders let a three-point halftime lead slip and fell to the Lady Braves 38-35.
The physical matchup was filled with several second-half lead changes, and Richmond had two possessions in the final 15 seconds of regulation for a chance to tie the game. But the Lady Raiders couldn’t find the hoop and saw their overall record drop to 2-4.
Freshman forward Nyla Stroman led Richmond with 15 points off the bench, and fellow freshman guard Joy Styles chipped in seven more points. Rounding out the top scorers for the Lady Raiders was freshman guard C’Nedra Hinson with six points.
“We can’t wait until the second half to come alive, and that’s what’s been getting us lately,” Watkins explained. “We wait until our backs are up against the wall to play, but if we can fire up like that in the first 30 seconds of the game, it would have been a different outcome.
“Nyla did step up and it must be something about playing at home,” she added with a laugh. “She lights it up on her home court and we definitely needed the offense since we didn’t score a lot. Nyla also stepped up on defense which she’s coming around a lot on.”
The Lady Raiders trailed by three points early and had trouble finding the basket. Stroman would score the team’s first points, a three-pointer, at the 3:27 mark of the first quarter from the right corner. She answered back with her second triple of the game on the next possession from the left side.
Freshman EJ Davis and Styles would combine for the final four points in the opening frame for Richmond, and the Lady Raiders trailed 11-10.
Cheraw began the second period on a 4-0 run, but Richmond scored nine of the next 10 points to pull ahead 19-16 at the break. Hinson hit a pair of free throws and sophomore forward Raven Robinson added a mid-range jumper. Stroman tacked on three free throws before laying in a basket with 26 seconds left on the clock.
Out of the locker room, Cheraw regained a 21-19 lead, but a Davis free throw and a Hinson baseline drive gave Richmond a one-point advantage. The lead was short lived, as a three-pointer by the Lady Braves with 4:15 left in the third gave the visitors a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
The Lady Raiders would trail by as many as seven points in the fourth quarter, 36-29, but Styles and freshman Da’Veah Robinson combined to add four free throws and a field goal to make it a one possession game.
Styles forced a turnover near halfcourt with 15.8 seconds left in regulation and the Lady Raiders down by three. Following a timeout, Hinson had an opportunity in the paint but missed, and a last second shot as time expired fell short and gave the Lady Braves the win.
“We have to keep our attitudes in check a little better,” Watkins explained. “I think the girls get so riled up emotionally that it comes out any way possible. But I told them I love they play with heart, they just have to learn to control it.
“It was a physical game and we didn’t do the best job boxing out,” she closed. “What it comes down to is making three layups and the outcome would be different. We’re going to put some more work in and get the girls some more game-like experience.”
