ROCKINGHAM — From the opening jump ball of Friday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference game, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team was all gas and no brakes.
Continuing their perfect start to conference play, and extending their winning streak to six games, the Lady Raiders defeated Hoke County High School 66-25.
It was the second time this season that first-place Richmond used a running clock to defeat the last-place Lady Bucks.
A mid-range jumper by freshman Jamyia Lindsey, who had a game-high 27 points,with 3:24 left in the third quarter started the mercy-rule win.
Also hitting double digits were senior Jai’Maya Ratliff (12 points) and freshman Rena Drake (11 points).
Head coach Teddy Moseley said the game plan going into the night was to have his team continue to work on running sets and get better in all facets of the game.
“We tend to have one pass and then a shot, and tonight we put some new sets in that allowed us to pass the ball more,” Moseley explained. “That allowed us to see what was working and what we need to continue to get better with.
“The other goal was to get out to a fast start, and our press (defense) has been working well for us,” he added. “We went to the 2-2-1 and got a lot of off-the-ball steals and easy transition baskets. Our defense leads our offense, that’s been the key for us.”
In addition to using the press to create turnovers and transition points, the Lady Raiders worked the ball well inside the paint all night. A 9-0 run to start the game featured four points from Ratliff and three points from Lindsey.
Senior Miccah Wall, who finished with four points, scored her first two on a jumper on the first possession.
Hoke County got on the board at the 6:15 mark thanks to a free throw by Whitney Thompson, but that led to a 16-7 run by Richmond to close the first quarter. Following a Ratliff drive, Drake netted her five first-quarter points on the next three possessions.
Junior C’Nedra Hinson joined the scoring with an old-fashioned three-point play, and six more points from Lindsey closed the frame. After one, Richmond led 25-8.
Junior C’Nedra Hinson (12) hits a three-pointer in Friday’s win. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
A 19-4 run in the second quarter put the Lady Raiders up 32 points at halftime. Lindsey went off for 10 points, including a three-pointer, and Hinson added the final four of her seven points, three coming from beyond the arc.
Drake splashed down a triple and Ratliff added a transition layup to make it a 44-12 advantage.
Six fast points to start the third, split between Lindsey and Ratliff, put Richmond up 38 points. A three-pointer from Lailah Crowder stopped the run, but Drake added a bucket and a free throw in response.
After a couple more inside baskets, Lindsey’s final points of the game made it a running clock. Senior Mariah Waddell connected on a mid-range jump shot from the left side for the first of her three points to put Richmond ahead 61-19 after three.
The fourth quarter went quickly, with Waddell adding a free throw. Wall scored a pair of free throws and sophomore C’Niya Hinson became the final player to score with a basket under the rim with just over three minutes left.
Brianna Redmond led Hoke County (1-16, 0-8 SAC) with 6 points, followed by 5 points each from Crowder and Kyanna Hollingsworth.
“I thought we played well tonight,” Moseley said. “We were a little flat in the second, but we picked it up in the third quarter. It was a good win for us.”
Richmond (13-4, 7-0 SAC) will return to their home floor on Tuesday against Union Pines High School (11-8, 5-3 SAC).
On Friday, the Lady Vikings defeated second-place Scotland High School, which opened Richmond’s first-place lead to two games. Tip is set for 6 p.m.
