ROCKINGHAM – In the blink of an eye, the Richmond Senior High School Lady Raiders basketball team found itself down 16-0 at the end of the first quarter in its game against Sandhills Athletic Conference foe Lumberton High School Wednesday night.
Despite a valiant effort at a comeback, Richmond (5-11, 3-8 SAC) fell to the Lady Pirates (17-4, 8-3) 46-39.
The Lady Pirates used a full-court press – a defensive scheme the Lady Raiders have also used with success this year – to create 13 Richmond turnovers early in the game. Richmond was low on energy and had difficulty controlling the basketball. It is the only quarter the Lady Raiders have been held scoreless this season.
The second quarter was when the Lady Raiders attempted their comeback when they outscored Lumberton 15-7 to pull the score to 23-15 overall heading into the break. Senior forward Lexyonna Ingram scored Richmond’s first eight points with three field goals and two made free throws.
Head coach Rosalind McDonald subbed in sophomore guards Layne Maultsby and Hailey Miller, which the pair helped ignite a 9-0 run by the Lady Raiders that saw Miller hit a three-pointer from the right wing and a layup off of a steal. Maultsby hit a deep two of her own from the left corner to go along with a jumper from Ingram. The Lady Raiders were able to play with a lot more fire in the final two minutes of the first half.
Richmond came out halftime the same way they entered it – by outscoring Lumberton. The Lady Raiders opened the third quarter on a 10-4 run to pull within two points at 27-25. During that stretch, freshman Jakerra Covington made a free throw, sophomore point guard Allexis Swiney hit a three from the left corner and a floater in the paint, while Miller scored a deep two-pointer from the left wing and Ingram scored her own two points.
However, the Lady Pirates went on a 13-1 run in the final 3:30 of the third to put Lumberton up 40-28 going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Ingram made two free throws to open and a baseline jumper to cut the lead to 40-32. Junior Dannon Shepard later came off the bench and swished a three from the right wing to get Richmond to within five points with just over five minutes left. Two made Swiney free throws with 4:43 on the clock left the score at 40-37, but that would be the closest Richmond would get the rest of the way.Â
Despite tough effort from the Lady Raiders, Lumberton was able to close the final four minutes on a 6-2 run that would end the game.
Ingram led the Raiders in scoring with 16 points, followed by Swiney with nine points and Miller who chipped in seven. Rounding out the scoring efforts were Shepard with three points, and Maultsby and Covington added two apiece, respectively.
Richmond will hit the road Friday in hopes of redeeming itself, as it will travel to Lumberton to finish the season series. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
