Rockingham – The Richmond Lady Raiders basketball team had a chance to pull a way with a win Friday night inside Raider Gymnasium, but were unable to do so due to a lack of shutdown defense in the fourth quarter.
Richmond was able to start out strong against Jack Britt High School, especially in the first half when they ran a full-court press against the Lady Bucs that kept the opposing team from getting many fastbreak baskets. Sophomore point guard Allexis Swiney started the offensive game off with a breakaway to put Richmond up early on.
Richmond led 11-10 after the first quarter with senior forward Lexyonna Ingram and Swiney splitting the points between each other with four points apiece in the first quarter and using good ball movement to find the open player for a shot.
With a 1:30 left before the half, Jack Britt took the lead at 20-19, but unfortunately for the Lady Raiders, that wouldn’t be the last time they saw the lead.
Richmond took back the lead after a made three-pointer from Swiney to back up 22-20. And at the time, it seemed like the Lady Raiders might be up for good, going into halftime 24-20.
Swiney and sophomore guard Keionna Love each had five points in the second quarter to keep the Lady Raiders up at the moment. Swiney led all Lady Raiders with nine points at the half.
Out of the locker room, the Lady Raiders were unable to keep the first half scoring as the Lady Bucs were able to tie the game up at 29-29 with three minutes left in the third quarter.
Love was able to put up in a layup to put Richmond up 31-29, but from that point forward, the Lady Raiders found themselves in a struggle for who would come out victorious.Â
Love gave Richmond some hope as she hit a three-pointer to regain the lead 32-21, but Jack Britt was quick to answer.
Jack Britt took the lead again at 37-35 with 30 seconds left in the third quarter, which would turn out to be the final score going into the fourth.
Love led Richmond with six points in the third quarter, and led overall with 13 points to Swiney’s 12.
Richmond was able to retake the lead with 6:30 left in the fourth quarter when Swiney put in a running layup from the baseline. However, the lead changed several times in the fourth as the teams exchanged baskets.
The Lady Bucs were able to capitalize on an and-one opportunity with just over two minutes left in the game that put them up 42-35. However, they were able to grab the rebound and score to make it 44-35.
Richmond essentially got away from the full court press that they had used in the first half to stifle Jack Britt’s offense, and that perhaps not only allowed the Lady Bucs to not only get back into the game, but take the lead at end for good.
A potential three-pointer from sophomore guard Hailey Miller was blocked at the very end, and Jack Britt finally went up 49-42 in the fourth quarter, which would eventually turn into a final score of 49-43 after a missed free throw.
Swiney and Love both had four points in the fourth quarter, meanwhile, Love contributed 17 points as the highest scoring Raider. Swiney added 16 points of her own. Ingram chipped in four, while junior guard Talia Wall added three points, and freshman Jakerra Covington added two more.
The Lady Raiders shot 12-20 from the free throw line for the game, including 1-5 in the last minute of the game.
