SANFORD — Extending its winning streak to nine straight games, the Lady Raider basketball team earned at least a share of the Sandhills Athletic Conference regular season title on Friday.
That celebration comes for the first time since the 2010-11 season, as Richmond kept its perfect conference record intact with a 71-47 win over Lee County High School.
A total of seven Lady Raiders found the basket in the victory, led by freshman point guard Jamyia Lindsey. She finished with a game-high 29 points, knocking down 15 points in the first half.
Senior center Jai’Maya Ratliff also reached double digits with 19 points, collecting most in the first two periods. Next on the scoresheet was sophomore forward Ryelan Lyerly, who added 8 points, including two triples.
Jumping out to a 20-13 lead after the first quarter, the Lady Raiders used eight points from Ratliff. She hit three field goals and two free throws, while Lindsey started her scoring with six points all coming in the paint.
Junior wing C’Nedra Hinson connected on the first of her two three-pointers in the game and ended with six points. A drive from Lyerly and a free throw from senior Miccah Wall put the Lady Raiders up seven.
A 9-2 run by Richmond to start the second quarter gave the team its largest lead of the first half, 13 points. Lindsey added nine more points on a triple, two shots from close range and four free throws.
Freshman Jamyia Lindsey had a game-high 29 points in Friday’s win. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Ratliff tallied five more points to give her 13 points at the break. Hinson landed another triple to cap her scoring and Wall added two more of her five points. Going into the locker room, head coach Teddy Moseley’s team led 39-26.
Breaking the game open to start the third, the Lady Raiders found a rhythm with a 15-7 run. Lindsey started with a triple from the top of the arc and Lyerly answered with a three-ball from the left side.
Lindsey added another three-pointer and made a transition basket off a steal, and two close-range shots by Ratliff put Richmond up 54-33 going into the fourth.
In the closing eight minutes, six Lady Raiders scored. Lindsey led the way with her final six points and Lyerly added her second three-pointer.
Two points each from Ratliff, Wall, freshman Rena Drake and freshman Quanna Bostic accounted for eight more points.
The Lady Raiders took their largest lead of the game, 31 points, when Bostic hit a mid-range jumper with just over two minutes to play.
Senior Miccah Wall (42) lays in a wide-open basket in the fourth quarter. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Lee County (5-14, 3-6 SAC) was led by Gillian Garrison and Alyssa Martin, who both tallied a team-high 17 points. Adding 10 points in the loss was Kaleah Cotton and Gabrielle Mclean scored three points.
Richmond (16-4, 10-0 SAC) will host Lee County on Wednesday, then conclude the regular season with Senior Night on Friday against Scotland.
A win over the Lady Yellow Jackets would secure the outright SAC championship. Both games will get started at 6 p.m.
