FAYETTEVILLE — A trio of Richmond Senior High School basketball players reached double digits in Thursday’s playoff win.
The No. 1 seeded Raiders began the opening round of the 9 Dime Fall League playoffs with a convincing 64-51 win over No. 8 Robeson County.
The team’s sixth win in seven tries this season was led by two seniors and a freshman. Seniors Patrick McLaughlin and Nygie Stroman, along with freshman Paul McNeil, accounted for 44 of the team’s points.
McLaughlin, the Raiders’ floor general, netted a game-high 18 points and added four assists. Stroman collected his second double-double in as many games, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. McNeil continued to show his versatility on the court, stuffing the statsheet with 14 points.
“The whole team played a great game,” head coach Maurice McLaurin said. “They came out early and started how we wanted to start. We had a good lead in the first half and the guys played together and communicated as a team.
“Nygie led us with 12 points in the first half, and PJ brought it home for us,” he added. “(PJ) hustled to make plays and did a great job of controlling the game. Paul filled in the middle part of the scoring, and was very versatile with his defense and driving the ball.”
At the half, Richmond held a commanding 31-13 lead. Stroman’s 12 points helped with the fast start, with three of his rebounds coming in the opening 20 minutes.
Other Raiders to contribute in the big win were senior Dylan Lewis (five points) and junior Deshon Watson (four points). Senior Travis Thomas and juniors Xavier Collazo and Micah Jackson each scored three points, while sophomore Dakota Chavis rounded out the attack with two points.
“It feels great to get our first playoff win,” McLaurin said. “I told the guys before the game we needed three more wins to accomplish what we want to accomplish. Tonight they really displayed they want to win the championship.”
Charles Clark, the 9 Dime Fall League’s director and regional high school basketball scout, also awarded regular-season accolades Thursday.
Stroman and Lewis, along with Robeson County’s Jeyvian Tatum, were named to the first-team all-fall league roster. McLaughlin and Logan Jacobs (Robeson County) earned second-team all-fall honors.
Photo: PJ McLaughlin (left) was named to the second-team all-fall team. Courtesy of Charles Clark (second from right).
McLaurin, who led the Raiders to a regular-season title, was recognized as co-coach of the year.
Photo: Maurice McLauring (center) was named co-coach of the year. Courtesy of Charles Clark (right).
“PJ, Nygie and Dylan have been working toward this since April,” McLaurin said. “All of their hard work and training is setting them up to have a great senior season. Those efforts have been shown by them and are being recognized. It’s so cool to have three guys earn the award.
“All I did was show up and motivate them to play,” he added with a chuckle about his award. “The award is all because of them coming out and playing hard.”
Richmond will get a week off before returning to the semifinal round of the playoffs next Thursday. The Raiders will play the winner of the No. 4 Berian Baptist Academy and No. 5 New Life Christian Academy contest, which is scheduled for Saturday.
