MINT HILL, N.C. — The No. 15 Richmond Senior High boys’ basketball team saw its postseason run come to an end Thursday, as it fell to No. 2 Independence High School 58-39.
On the road against the reigning NCHSAA 4A state champion Patriots, the Raiders let a close first quarter slip away during the second-round contest. A low-scoring second quarter by Richmond proved to be a “key point” in its inability to come back.
But for second-year head coach Donald Pettigrew, he noted how proud he was of his players’ efforts despite seeing the season draw to a close.
“We competed and the effort was good tonight,” Pettigrew said. “The guys played scrappy like they’ve done all year. I think a lot about the guys — everything they did this year was because of them.
“Even after a slow start, they believed in each other and believed in the process,” he added. “We came together as a team and won eight straight (conference) games and that was big time to get us into the playoffs.”
On Tuesday, the Raiders held off Hickory Ridge High School 67-59 to set up its meeting with Independence.
Senior forward Xavier Pettigrew, who is Coach Pettigrew’s son, led the Raiders with 13 points in his final game in green and gold. On being able to coach his son the past two seasons, Pettigrew said it was a “great experience” and was glad “Zay left it all on the court” against Independence.
Richmond (16-12) opened the game with a 7-5 lead, but the Patriots closed the frame on a 6-3 run to take a 13-10 lead into the second. Pettigrew had two points in the first, with teammates Alex Quick and Jarvis Tillman both draining three-pointers, and .
But a stagnant second quarter that only saw four points, all by Pettigrew, saw Independence take a 29-14 halftime lead. Pettigrew added that 13 first-half turnovers didn’t help his team’s cause.
“We started fine, but then we had a stretch where we turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions,” Pettigrew said. “Only scoring four points in second really hurt us — we can’t do that in the playoffs.
“But I thought the guys did a good job being patient early,” he added. “When we were up, we panicked and forced some stuff we normally wouldn’t do. That comes with being inexperienced, and (Independence) is a veteran team. They have some really good guards and were active on defense.”
Patriots’ senior forward Matt Smith netted a game-high 19 points, collecting 10 points in the second half. Fellow senior Raja Milton contributed 12 points in the win.
A better third quarter for Richmond saw 12 points go up on the board, but Independence (22-6) added 15 more to hold a 44-26 lead. Senior Rod Newton scored all eight of his points, the second leading scorer for the Raiders, in the second half.
Smith scored six of his points in the final eight minutes, and got buckets from four of his teammates. Newton led Richmond with five points, as Pettigrew closed his night with his final three points, and tacked on “four big blocks” during the game.
“I’m so proud of the team, especially my seniors,” Pettigrew said. “They’re all going to be missed.
“I want to thank a lot of the coaches at Richmond like Coach (Ricky) Young and (Bryan) Till for supporting us after slow start. That was big for us and we appreciate everyone for this journey we’ve been on.”
ROSports will publish a season recap next week.
