ROCKINGHAM — The Lady Raider varsity basketball team was looking to celebrate senior night with a win and better its chances at making the state playoffs Tuesday. But Seventy-First High School and Amira Coles had different plans.
Richmond saw its senior night end in a 59-33 loss to the Lady Falcons, as Coles had a game-high 22 points, which included a strong first-half performance. With the loss, the Lady Raiders fell to 10-12 overall, and 6-7 against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents. Richmond now sits alone in fourth place in the SAC.
Coles rolled out scoring 11 points in the first and second quarters, respectively, while being held to just a free throw in the second half. Her 11 first-quarter points were part of a Seventy-First 17-1 run that put the game away early.
The second quarter wasn’t much better for the Lady Raiders, as they only managed to add six more points in the eight-minute period. Field goals by Jayla McDougald, Anajah Redfearn and Allexis Swiney made it a 34-7 ball game at the intermission.
Adding to Coles’ 22 first-half points were eight by Amore Kirkland, while Ayanna Williams and Tayler Allen combined for the rest.
“It’s been the same thing all season, we start out slow,” head coach Teddy Moseley said after the game. “But we continue to get better in the second half — but against good teams like Seventy-First we can’t do that.
“I think the slow start comes with the youthfulness of our team,” he added. “A lot of our girls haven’t had a lot of varsity experience and now they’re getting a lot of it. We’re going to be a good team, even in the conference tournament. I think we’ll upset some teams there.”
The second half was much better for Richmond, but it was too little, too late for the Lady Raiders to crawl back on the scoreboard. Midway through the third period, a three-pointer by Allen gave the visiting Lady Falcons their largest lead of the night, 35 points, 43-8.
But a Redfearn made free throw at the 3:05 mark sparked a 11-2 Lady Raider run to end the third stanza. Redfearn was responsible for five of those points, while Layne Maultsby, Taliah Wall and McDougald added two points apiece.
In the final frame, Moseley’s squad continued to try and get back in the game, outscoring the Lady Falcons 12-5. McDougald would open the quarter on a 10-point run of her own, dropping a three-pointer, three field goals and a free throw in the process.
Wall would add the other two points from the charity stripe with 4:25 left to go in regulation. The closest Richmond would get the rest of the game was 17 points, 45-28, when McDougald laid in a shot from under the rim.
Other leading scorers in the game for Seventy-First were Kirkland (12 points), Allen (six points), and Williams (five points). The top scorer for Richmond was McDougald with 14 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. Redfearn added seven points in the loss, while Wall knocked down five free throws.
Following the game, RSHS principal Jim Butler and Moseley recognized seniors Jessie Matheson, Jayana Nicholson and Wall. All three were joined by family members and teammates to celebrate their final regular season home game.
The Lady Raiders will wrap up the 2018-19 regular season on the road Friday at rival Scotland High School (8-15, 2-11 SAC). Tip is set for 6 p.m.
