ROCKINGHAM — Just a couple of nights after falling by one point to Jack Britt, the junior varsity Raider basketball team made up for it with a big-time win over conference opponent Hoke County High School on Tuesday.
In a scrappy back-and-forth affair, Richmond and head coach Kenta Hutchinson emerged victorious behind a final score of 72-66. The win put Richmond at 8-3 overall and 2-2 against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents.
Four Raiders would find double digits in the win, with sophomore guard Xavier Collazo netting a team-high 18 points. Joining the scoring barrage were sophomores Luke Williams (13 points) and Deshon Watson (10), and freshman Dakota Chavis, whose 10 points all came from the charity strip.
The first half saw the Raiders take a 14-12 lead after one and a 30-26 advantage into the break. Williams would score seven of his points in the opening frame, as Watson added four and Mehki Harrington shot from downtown.
Collazo picked up his energy in the second, hitting two triples, a field goal and two free throws for 10 points. Chavis notched his first two free throws and off the bench, Javares Stanback drained the first of his three three-pointers to help Richmond stay ahead.
Out of the halftime break, the third quarter proved to be the difference maker for Richmond. The Raiders exploded for 26 points, using eight players to distance themselves from the Bucks. Chavis went 5-of-6 from the free throw line and Harrington and Watson both added four points.
A three-pointer from Micah Jackson, his lone bucket of the day, was matched by another from Stanback. Collazo pushed three more points in and Williams and Travion Dumas combined for four points.
Leading 56-33, the Richmond defense slipped a little in the fourth quarter, allowing the Bucks to outscore them 23-16. Luckily for Richmond, the lead it’d built was more than enough to end its two-game losing skid.
Three-pointers from Collazo, Stanback and Williams were all big time shots for Richmond, as Chavis and Collazo combined for five more made free throws.
The JV Raiders will have another big test on the road Friday against SAC opponent Lumberton High School, which will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Freshman Raiders roll past Bucks for second win
The Richmond County Ninth Grade Academy boys’ basketball team had the longest hiatus of any team this break, having not played since Dec. 13. But there was no rust for the freshman Raiders, who bucked its way past Hoke County 45-29.
Emoni McBride led the team with 11 points and Zay Wall chipped in 10 points. Zion Baldwin and Jadden Jenks each contributed 8 points in the win, with Baldwin added a team-high 10 rebounds.Jenks and Wall were second on the team with five boards each.
Leading 21-19 at the start of the fourth quarter, a 24-point surge by Richmond proved to be the difference maker. Wall had two three-pointers and a field goal in the fourth, and MvBride added his final seven points.
“We played great defense the entire game,” head coach Taivon Jones said. “We started out really slow offensively, but in the fourth quarter we turned it around. That allowed us to pull away from them.”
As a team, the freshman Raiders stole the ball 15 times. The ninth-grade team (2-1, 2-1 SAC) will return to the floor on Friday at Lumberton, starting at 5 p.m.
