PEMBROKE — Having not played in 10 days because of a limited schedule, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ junior varsity basketball team didn’t skip a beat on Friday.
The Lady Raiders notched their third consecutive win to start the season, defeating Purnell Swett High School 43-28.
This season because of the pandemic, only four of the eight schools in the Sandhills Athletic Conference have a junior varsity girls’ program. Joining Richmond and Purnell Swett are Jack Britt and Pinecrest high schools.
Friday’s 15-point win was Richmond’s second victory over the Lady Rams this season, as the Lady Raiders opened the season with a 51-32 win on Jan. 5. The second meeting with Purnell Swett marked Richmond’s third win that reached a double-digit lead.
Freshman Keyoni Nichols scored a game-high 15 points for Richmond, splitting her scoring with seven points in the first half and eight points in the second half. Fellow freshman C’Niya Hinson also impressed, scoring 12 points, including eight in the final two stanzas.
“The girls rallied through a tough start,” head coach Demi Watkins said. “Then they hit the gas pedal and never let up. I’m proud of the way we played as a team.”
Purnell Swett opened the game on a 10-0 run to start the first quarter. Forcing the Lady Raiders’ offense to get going, Richmond closed out the quarter on a 12-2 run of its own.
Freshman Jamia Crowder scored an early three-pointer, one of her two in the game, and Hinson added two field goals during the run.
Sophomore Deveah Robinson added a bucket for her two points in the game and sophomore Nyla Stroman knocked home a pair of free throws in the frame. Nichols added only one point in the first, but the two teams ended the opening eight minutes tied at 12 points.
A 9-2 scoring run by the Lady Raiders in the second quarter started to shift the game’s momentum in their favor. Crowder capped her scoring with her second triple for six points and Nichols came alive with three field goals to make it a 21-14 advantage at the break.
Richmond doubled Purnell Swett’s scoring effort in the third, adding 10 points to the home team’s five. Hinson led the way with four points, scoring a field goal and two shots from the stripe.
Nichols and freshman Jasmine Jennings each added a bucket and sophomore Joy Styles drilled two free throws for her two points of the night. The Lady Raiders led 31-19 after three.
To ice the win, the Lady Raiders added 12 points in the fourth quarter. Nichols tallied her final six points, netting a field goal and adding four free throws. Hinson helped out with four points and Zy’Neveah Goins chipped in two points.
“Keyoni got hot for us on offense to get things going,” Watkins said. “We put pressure on the ball on defense to cause turnovers and get transition points on the board.”
Richmond (3-0) will look to keep their perfect season alive on Tuesday at Pinecrest High School. The game will begin at 5 p.m. in Southern Pines.
