ROCKINGHAM — Behind a career-high 20 points from junior point guard Jayla McDougald, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ basketball team opened its season with a non-conference win over Anson High School.
Hosting the Lady Bearcats on Tuesday, the Lady Raiders led nearly the entire game, and rolled to a 56-26 win. It marked the second time in as many seasons under head coach Teddy Moseley that Richmond won its first game of the season.
The 30-point victory was also the second best in Moseley’s tenure, just five points less than last season’s 53-18 win over Southern Lee High School.
A three-point play by McDougald with a bucket and a made free throw attempt at the 1:54 mark of the opening frame put the Lady Raiders ahead 12-9. From that point forward, Richmond never trailed the Lady Bearcats.
“Jayla has been shooting the ball well since we started (this pre-season),” Moseley commented. “Now we just need to ride this wave of confidence with her.”
“All of our guards played well tonight,” he added. “Anajah (Redfearn) played well in the post, and all the girls played hard. Their effort was there and I tell them if they do that, everything else will fall into place.”
McDougald netted 13 of her points in the first half before capping her performance with seven second-half points. Senior guard Keionna Love, who only played the second half, tallied nine points, all in the third quarter.
Senior forward Anajah Redfearn, who Moseley credited with having a good night on both sides of the ball in the post, scored eight points.
The Lady Raiders scored 12 points in each of the first two quarters, and used a 15-5 run to end the first and span the entire second quarter to break the game open.
McDougald hit back-to-back three-pointers, one from the top of the key and another from the right corner to make it 22-09 with 1:41 left in the half. Senior Jasmine Ewing also added a triple in the second stanza to give Richmond a 24-14 halftime lead.
A 22-point third quarter was the difference maker for the Lady Raiders, seeing Love enter the game and record two quick blocks in the post. Love would lay in a shot off a McDougald steal before hitting two three-pointers.
Using a fast-tempo offense, the Lady Raiders corrected some timing issues from the first half and shutdown Anson on defense, limiting the visiting team to just 12 second-half points.
Six total Lady Raiders would record a basket in the third quarter. Joining Love was McDougald with five points. Redfearn, along with senior Bree Wall, junior Jakerra Covington and freshman Kyla Sampson, all had two points.
Richmond’s largest lead of the game was 30 points, which came at the final buzzer. For all of the second half the Lady Raiders led by double digits. Redfearn was responsible for a team-high four points in the fourth quarter.
Anson’s Revie Byars had a team-high eight points for the Lady Bearcats.
“We want to play fast, but not in a hurry,” Moseley said of some miscues on offense and defense. “There were some nervous jitters that came into play, and that led to too many unforced turnovers.
“We need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and shortening up passing lanes,” he continued. “There were plenty of times tonight where we didn’t take the ball to the basket or finish layups. But we’ll keep working and correct that for our next game.”
Moseley and the Lady Raiders (1-0) will hit the hardwood again on Thursday, traveling to Anson (0-1) to complete the home-and-home series. Action will get underway around 6:30 p.m.
