ROCKINGHAM — Teddy Moseley had high aspirations when he took over the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball program last summer.
With his first season now officially in the books, Moseley met some of his goals, and described the last three months as a series of “missed opportunities.” But he’s already thinking of ways to get better next year as he continues to build the program.
Entering the season’s start prior to Thanksgiving, Moseley made it known that he expected some growing pains in his first season. Calling it a “development year” early on, the Lady Raiders managed to notch a 10-14 overall record in 2018-19, while posting a 6-8 tally against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents.
Those 10 wins were four more than the Lady Raiders earned in 2017-18 under former coach Rosalyn McDonald, and Richmond doubled its conference win total this season. With their six SAC wins, the Lady Raiders finished in fourth place, two spots better than last year, and were just three wins away from securing a postseason berth.
Richmond had a chance to squeeze into the postseason late had it made a run through the SAC tournament. Earning a No. 5 seed, the Lady Raiders fell to No. 4 Jack Britt High School in the opening round.
“It was a pretty good year, but I definitely feel that it could have been better,” Moseley said. “We had high expectations coming in, and we were a good team. Overall, it was much improved to go from 3-11 (in the SAC) and come halfway up the conference standings. I’m proud and impressed with the girls and how they worked hard.
“It was a learning experience for me and the girls,” he added. “I had to set expectations and we had to get used to each other. Coming into next season, now they know what to expect. This was my first time coaching girls, and I’ll change some things next year in the the way I coach things.”
The primary goal for Moseley and the Lady Raiders was to be a better team than it was last season. Noting that a top-three finish in the conference was the another goal, along with a trip to the NCHSAA state playoffs, Moseley said just missing out is something his team can work toward next winter.
Leading the Lady Raiders in scoring this season were a pair of sophomores in Jakerra Covington and Jayla McDougald. Covington averaged 11 points per game, and had her career-best 22-point performance in the regular season finale against Scotland High School. McDougald wasn’t far behind with 10 points per game.
As a team, the Lady Raiders averaged 42.6 points per game, and eclipsed the 50-point mark four times. They scored a season-high 58 points against Hoke County High School on Jan. 8. The Lady Raiders’ biggest win was a 53-18 victory (35-point margin) over Southern Lee High School on Dec. 5.
Moseley explained that the Dec. 14 loss to Pinecrest High School, a 47-44 road decision, set the tone for the rest of the season and “took some wind out of our sails.”
“It was an up and down season, and missed opportunities are the story of our season,” Moseley said. “Now we have to learn how to win because I won’t accept losing. I will accept the girls’ best effort, but we can be a lot better.
“I really thought our defense played great, even though we had some lapses,” he added. “Slow starts in games really hurt us. We needed to capitalize on our speed and force turnovers because we didn’t have a presence down low — we forced turnovers but missed a lot of open shots.”
Moseley shared his team averaged 55 shots per game, while also committing an average of 19 turnovers per contest. From the field, Richmond connected on just 23 percent of its shots, while only sinking 37 percent of its free throws.
The good news for Moseley as he continues to tweak the program to fit his system is that only three players will graduate this year.
Current senior Taliah Wall was the only one to see significant minutes, and Moseley will have his pick from Covington, McDouglad, rising seniors Layne Maultsby and Hailey Miller, as well as sisters Allexis and Allyiah Swiney, among others, next season.
“Jakerra stood out, and she was the most consistent player for us this year,” Moseley said. “Jayla was up and down, but finished strong late in the season. Both played huge roles for us.
“With Layne, she had some good games, and I’m trying to build her confidence up,” he continued. “Hailey was plagued with injuries and never recovered and that’s hopefully be behind us. Hailey and Layne have the most basketball-sense, and they will play a major role next year.”
He added that the Swineys will play “a vital role” as well, as a senior (Allexis) and sophomore (Allyiah).
With the postseason getting underway around the state this week, Moseley doesn’t want to wait too long before getting his team back on the hardwood for spring and summer workouts. He added it’s difficult to get everyone together since many of his players are multi-sport athletes, but he anticipates a strong offseason.
“I’m really looking forward to my first offseason with the team,” Moseley concluded. “A lot of our mistakes are correctable. We’ll work on free throws and turnovers. The main thing I want for the girls is for them to believe in themselves and take what we’ve done and build on it.”
