SOUTHERN PINES — Thirty two minutes of regulation wasn’t enough time to decide the winner of Thursday’s opening-round tournament game between the Richmond Senior and Holly Springs high schools’ junior varsity boys’ basketball teams.
Playing at Pinecrest High School in the First Bank Holiday Tournament, the Raiders would overcome a second-half deficit to defeat the Golden Hawks 54-50 in overtime. The four-point victory secured Richmond’s spot in the championship game against the host Patriots.
Sophomore forward Luke Williams, who has been battling illness all week and hasn’t practiced with the team, would hit the game-tying three-pointer from the right corner with 41.4 seconds left in regulation. He also finished with a team-high 13 points and added a Richmond best seven rebounds.
With the game knotted at 46 points, and after a double dribble turnover by Holly Springs’ Houston Wills, the Raiders had two chances in the final 34.3 seconds to win the game.
Williams would drive the paint but miss, and following a discussion by the officials, the Raiders inbounded the ball with 2.2 ticks that saw freshman guard Dakota Chavis put a shot off the back iron to send the game to extra time.
In the overtime period, Williams kickstarted the scoring with his second and final triple of the game to put the Raiders up three points. Free throws down the stretch were clutch for Richmond, as Williams, Chavis, Mehki Harrington and Ke’Sean Ingram combined for five made shots to ice the win.
“Defensively we weren’t all there in the first half,” head coach Kenta Hutchinson said. “We started off strong but then we had defensive lapses and runs where we didn’t score the ball. It hurt us and we had to fight back.
“The second half was way better defensively,” he added. “Our energy picked up when the guys had to play from behind. I told them it’s okay to be challenged and they responded really well.”
Hutchinson called Williams’ performance “big for the team,” adding his presence on both sides of the floor helped Richmond bounce back.
Richmond opened the first quarter on a 13-5 run that saw Chavis and Harrington each hit a three-pointer. Williams, Ingram and sophomore Micah Jackson all added a field goal and fellow sophomore Donovan Gadson’s free throw gave the Raiders an eight-point lead going into the second.
The Golden Hawks responded with a strong second stanza, outscoring the Raiders 19-6. Field goals from Jackson and Javares Stanback, coupled with a pair of free throws from Williams, accounted for the six Richmond points. At the half, the Raiders trailed 24-19.
Holly Springs outpaced Richmond in the third quarter again, seeing its lead fluctuate between as many as five points and as few as one point. Leading Richmond 28-27 with 5:39 to go in the third, the Golden Hawks closed on an 11-7 run that took a five-point lead into the final period of regulation.
Sophomore Travion Dumas started the fourth with a drive and a made and-one opportunity and later added a baseline drive with 4:20 remaining to pull within one, 43-42. A free throw by Chavis set up the tying shot from Williams a couple of possessions later.
All eight of Richmond’s players who saw time during the game would score, seeing Harrington add 12 points in the win.
Dumas had five fourth-quarter points, while Chavis and Ingram both finished with seven points. Jackson and Stanback chipped in four points apiece and Gadson had two free throws.
The Raiders (7-1) will face Pinecrest in the championship game Friday, a rematch between the two Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents. The Patriots handed Richmond its only loss of the season last week. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Pinecrest.
