ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team concluded its summer league play last week.
Head coach Teddy Moseley and the Lady Raiders played a dozen games throughout the month of June in a development league hosted by Uwharrie Charter Academy.
Richmond went 8-4 overall and closed the league with two games last week. The Lady Raiders defeated Chatham Charter 42-22, before falling to Southwestern Randolph 49-38.
In what was a busy summer for the girls’ basketball program, Moseley said one of the best parts was getting back into a normal offseason routine.
“It was great to be back playing this summer, especially in front of fans who appreciate our players and the game of basketball,” Moseley said. “It gave us some sense of normalcy.
“This summer league was a time to see what we’ve got,” he added. “The things we did well we want to build on, and those we didn’t do as well on will be our focus coming into the season.”
The Lady Raiders also played in the Flight 22 Fred Lynch Invitational in Wilmington, going 1-2 during the tournament. Richmond defeated Topsail High School 45-41, with rising freshman point guard Jamyia Lindsey being named the game’s MVP following a 17-point performance.
The Lady Raiders fell to Laney High School 43-31 and Eastern Alamance High School 44-37, but rising senior forward Jamiya Ratliff (11 points) and rising freshman forward O’Rena Drake (12 points) were named the MVPs of those respective games.
Graduating this past season were four seniors — Davionna Campbell, Jakerra Covington, Asia Douglas and Jayla McDougald — so Moseley said the focus was to develop an influx of returning players and newcomers.
Among the top performers this summer was Lindsey, who averaged 12.4 points per game, and the player Moseley expects to become the Lady Raiders’ starting point guard.
Ratliff proved to be an effective player on both sides of the ball, averaging 13.3 points and 3.0 blocks per game.
“The more Jamyia (Lindsey) played, the better she got,” Moseley explained. “She adapted well to the speed of the game, and she’s only going to get better with more minutes. Jamyia did a great job slowing down and processing the game, and she has all the tools to be our starting point guard.
“Jamiya (Ratliff) had a lot of blocks and was good with her off the ball defense,” he added. “Now we have to work on her ground defense. Rena also showed she knows the game, and the more she plays the better she’ll get, too. It can be tough going from middle school to the varsity level.”
Rising junior guard Kyla Sampson was also a key player this summer, with Moseley being impressed with her mobility and handling of the basketball. He said he expects her “to be an important player for us” in the upcoming season and that Sampson “shot the ball very well” during the summer league.
Knowing that he has a young group of talented players, Moseley noted he thought the summer league went as well as it could have for the Lady Raiders.
“There were more positive things than negative, especially being a young team,” Moseley said. “The girls made some youth mistakes, but we can make that up by playing hard.
“We mainly were missing defensive assignments, but that will come with coaching and experience,” he closed. “That was my biggest takeaway. We can score the ball well, we just have to stop other teams from scoring.”
The Lady Raiders are done with team workouts until school resumes in August, Moseley said.
