Home Local Sports Lindsey’s career-high 45 points secure No. 1 Lady Raiders’ spot in SAC...

Lindsey’s career-high 45 points secure No. 1 Lady Raiders’ spot in SAC tournament title game

Freshman Jamyia Lindsey (23) drives around Taryn Pakala (22) for two of her career-high 45 points on Wednesday.
Kyle Pillar — Sports Editor.

ROCKINGHAM — The No. 1 Lady Raider basketball team is moving onto the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament championship.

Despite a slower-paced first half by Richmond that saw a tied game at halftime, Union Pines High School couldn’t keep up with freshman standout point guard Jamyia Lindsey. 

The Lady Raiders took over in the second half to win 72-54, while Lindsey netted a career-high 45 points. Lindsey scored 17 points in the first half before notching 28 points in the final two periods.

As a team, Union Pines outscored Lindsey by just one point in the second half, 29-28.

In three games this season against Union Pines, all wins, Lindsey has scored 28, 34 and 45 points (an average of 35.7 PPG). Her previous career-high was 34 points on Jan. 7.

Contributing to the win, which saw Richmond outscore the Lady Vikings 47-29 in the second half, was senior center Jai’Maya Ratliff with 12 points. 

Junior C’Nedra Hinson had 7 points (two three-pointers) and sophomore Ryelan Lyerly added 5 points. Freshman Rena Drake rounded out the scoring with 3 points, all in the first half.

The Lady Vikings (14-11) took a 16-14 lead after the first quarter. Lindsey notched her first 11 points on two field goals, a triple and four free throws. Ratliff got her scoring started with a free throw and a putback.

Aaliyah Balser, who had a team-high 30 points for Union Pines, led the charge with 11 points of her own in the first. Meghan McCaskill and Corryn McCutchen both had two points and Sara Adams scored the first of her 14 points in the loss.

A 6-0 run in the final 3:33 by the Lady Vikings put them ahead by two points.

The second period was slow going for both teams, with the first point coming at the 5:00 mark thanks to a free throw by Drake. Trailing 18-15, the Lady Raiders edged Union Pines 10-7 the rest of the way to enter the locker room tied at 25-25.

Lindsey had 17 points at the break, adding three buckets for six points in the second. Both Ratliff and Drake scored two more points on baskets in the paint.

Taking over in the third quarter, the Lady Raiders went on a 25-12 run in eight minutes. Lindsey knocked down a pair of triples from the top of the arc and added a transition bucket and an and-one opportunity.

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A free throw got Hinson on the board and she followed that with a three-ball from the right wing to extend Richmond’s lead to 38-29 with 5:10 left in the period.

Another old-fashioned three-point play by Lindsey, coupled with a three-pointer and drive from Lyerly pushed the lead to 14 points. In the final 90 seconds, Lindsey netted two more drives to give her 33 points heading into the fourth.

Hinson capped her scoring on the team’s first possession of the last stanza, drilling a three-pointer from the right side. Lindsey recorded the first two of her 12 fourth-quarter points on a pair of free throws with 6:18 to play.

Richmond’s next five points came on two putbacks and a free throw by Ratliff, and Lindsey went on an 8-0 run by herself with three drives and two free throws. 

Leading 68-45, Richmond’s final four points came courtesy of a Ratliff shot under the rim and a pair of Lindsey free throws with 50.7 seconds to play.

No. 1 Richmond (19-4) will host No. 2 Pinecrest High School (18-5) on Friday at 6 p.m. to determine the conference tournament champion. 

It will be the third meeting this season, with Richmond taking both regular-season contests. The game will get underway at 6 p.m.

VIDEO INTERVIEW: Freshman point guard Jamyia Lindsey said the key to her career-high 45 points was defense, while head coach Teddy Moseley talks about the team playing a stronger second half to advance to the SAC tournament championship game.



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Kyle Pillar is a 22-time North Carolina Press Association award-winning sports editor with The Richmond Observer. Follow the sports department on X @ROSports_ for the best in-depth coverage of Richmond County sports.