PFAFFTOWN, N.C. — Just two nights after the Richmond Senior High School varsity girls basketball team routed Southern Lee High School for its second win of the season, the Lady Raiders were on the flip side of things on the road at non-conference Ronald Reagan High School.
Richmond fell to the Reagan Lady Raiders 60-40, as first-year head coach Teddy Moseley’s team never got its feet underneath it. Through four games this season, Richmond is 2-2, and Moseley spoke candidly following Friday’s loss.
“To be honest, we stunk in every facet of the game tonight,” Moseley said.”We didn’t do anything right tonight. We missed easy layups, we missed free throws and we got pushed around. And when (Reagan’s) girls were much more aggressive than we were, we shut down and quit.”
Richmond jumped out to an early lead thanks to a shot off the glass by junior Jardai Tillman, but Reagan responded with a 16-1 run of its own to take a large first-quarter lead.
Following a timeout by Moseley, the Lady Raiders bounced back by closing out the final 1:09 with a 6-0 run that saw a three-pointer from freshman Allyiah Swiney, a transition jumper by junior Layne Maultsby and a free throw from junior Allexis Swiney.
At the end of the first quarter, Richmond had cut the deficit to 16-9.
In the second frame, it was several Reagan players who hit buckets to give the home team a 32-21 halftime lead. Reagan junior Nytrinitey Jenkins had seven of her game-high 15 points in the second frame, and got help from sophomore teammate Adrianna Gullette, who added five points.
The bright spot for Richmond in the second stanza was junior guard Hailey Miller, who came in off the bench and drained two three pointers for her six points on the night. Miller’s first shot came from the left corner to make it 23-16 Reagan, and her second shot landed from the opposite corner two possessions later.
Free throws by Allexis Swiney and sophomore Jakerra Covington made it a five-point deficit with 1:33 to go in the opening half, but that would be the closest Richmond got on the scoreboard the rest of the night.
Out of the break, the Richmond Lady Raiders netted a quarter-high 13 points in the third frame, but were only to be outdone by Reagan’s 18 points. For much of the quarter, Richmond trailed by 10 or more points, but Covington did her part, as she exploded for eight of her nine total points.
She hit a putback shot to open things up, and added two more buckets under the hoop, the latter coming on a nice feed from Maultsby in the paint. She ended her night by hitting two free throws.
Down to their final eight minutes of play, the Lady Raiders only scored six points in the fourth quarter. Aside from a trio of free throws, sophomore Jayla McDougald splashed a three-pointer in for Richmond’s final points.
Covington’s nine points led Moseley’s squad, while Allexis Swiney finished with eight points. Miller added six in the loss, while McDougald tallied five points.
“We are going to hit the reset button in the morning with a new starting five,” Moseley concluded. “We need to be able to put a starting five out (on the floor) who will play and not shut down. It’s not fair to the girls on the bench who practice hard and have (the starters) shut down.”
Richmond will resume play Monday, Dec. 10, at Forest Hills High School (3-3). Tip off is slated for 5:30 p.m.
