PEMBROKE — Heading into Friday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference game against Purnell Swett High School, Lady Raider head coach Teddy Moseley knew his team would have to contain freshman Kylie Chavis.
While Richmond’s defense managed to minimize the point guard’s scoring in the middle periods, Chavis went off for a game-high 34 points. Purnell Swett completed the regular-season series sweep of the Lady Raiders in a 49-43 decision.
For most of the game, Richmond held a two to three-possession lead over the Lady Rams. But a 17-point fourth quarter by Chavis, including 11-of-15 from the free throw line in the final stanza, saw the Lady Raiders come up short.
In the early stages of the fourth, Richmond held a six-point advantage, 35-29, following a three-point run by senior wing Bree Wall. But with 2:04 left in regulation, Chavis completed a drive and the foul shot to turn the tide for good.
Thirty seconds later, Natalie Evington hit a triple from the right corner, which is what Moseley called the turning point “that really hurt us.”
“I take full responsibility for losing this game,” Moseley said. “Our girls played too hard for me to give it away down the stretch. I made a bad call defensively when it was tight without a lot of time left. We were fine in our man-to-man defense and I switched it to a defense that we aren’t really familiar with.
“As a coach, it’s my job to put our players in the position to win the game,” he continued. “I didn’t do that tonight. The girls played a great game against a good team in a hostile environment. They rose to the occasion and I let them down.”
Leading the Lady Raiders on the scoresheet was senior point guard Keionna Love, who finished near her season average with 14 points. Adding nine points each were Wall and junior forward Jakerra Covington.
Wall was helpful in the second half, scoring seven points in the final two quarters, going 5-of-9 from the charity stripe. Love was even with seven points in both halves, and connected on a team-best two three-pointers.
Junior forward Davionna Campbell contributed five points in the loss.
Covington and Love combined to give the Lady Raiders a 7-0 lead in the first 1:40 of the first quarter. But in the final 4:45 of the frame, Chavis went on an 11-3 run by herself, finishing with a drive with 17 seconds left to give the Lady Rams (10-6, 6-2 SAC) an 11-10 lead.
Richmond flipped the script in the second by limiting Chavis to just two points, and used four players to net nine points and take a 19-18 lead into the halftime break.
The Lady Raiders started the third on a 7-1 run to jump out to its largest lead of the game, 26-19. Love drove the paint, junior Jayla McDouglad connected on a free throw and Wall rang true on four foul shots.
Chavis was limited to just four points in the third and both teams traded baskets in the final three minutes. Richmond held onto a another one-point lead, 30-29, going into the fourth.
In the closing 10 minutes, Chavis netted 17 of her team’s 20 points, while Richmond suffered a lapse in offense late. The Lady Raiders led by as many as six points, but couldn’t hold on for the win.
“Bree did a great job defending (Chavis),” Moseley said. “A lot of the baskets (Chavis) scored were trash baskets when someone missed an assignment on help. Her points weren’t indicative to how the game was played.
“We are going to reset,” he closed. “One thing I can say is that the girls were upset after the game. That tells me they care about this team. They did nothing wrong, they played great defensively and made adjustments to rebound better. We’ll get ready for Pinecrest next week.”
The Lady Raiders are now 12-6 overall and 3-5 in SAC play. Purnell Swett beat Richmond twice in the same season for the first time since the 2014-2015 slate.
Richmond will continue SAC play on Tuesday against conference foe Pinecrest High School (9-7, 4-3 SAC). Tip is set for 6 p.m. in Southern Pines.
