ROCKINGHAM — Another memorable milestone was achieved for the Richmond Senior High School boys’ basketball team Friday, all while clinching the outright regular-season conference title.
As part of the team’s 102-64 win over Union Pines High School, Richmond’s 14th career conference championship, senior point guard Javian Drake reached the 1,000-point mark of his career.
Becoming the third player to join the club the past two seasons, Drake joins teammate Paul McNeil Jr. and the Lady Raiders’ Jamyia Lindsey.
Lindsey reached 1,000 points on Jan. 16, while McNeil Jr. eclipsed 2,000 career points a night later.
Needing 13 points to reach 1,000 points, Drake scored 17 points in his 79th career game. Since joining the varsity team at the beginning of his sophomore season, Drake has averaged 12.7 points per game.
Having already clinched the SAC’s automatic playoff berth last week, the Raiders secured their seventh outright SAC regular-season crown.
And for just the second time in program history, Richmond won back-to-back outright titles. The other times were the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons.
It was also the first time in school history the Raiders have won (outright or shared) the conference championship in three straight seasons (2021-22 through 2023-24).
Nine Raiders found the cylinder, with senior wing Paul McNeil Jr. dropping a game-high 36 points. Also netting double-digits were Drake, senior Jamarion Wall (19 points) and junior Keyonta Davis (11 points).
Senior David McNair hit a three-pointer for his points in the win just before the halftime buzzer.
Scoring in the fourth quarter were junior Ahaiver McDonald (six points), senior Jada Zimmerman and sophomore Jayden Hamilton (four points apiece) and junior Tyshawn Harris (two points).
Setting the tone early, the Raiders put up 30 points in the opening quarter to take a 14-point lead.
McNeil Jr., who shot 15-of-20 from the field (75%), made five field goals and splashed down one of Richmond’s 15 three-pointers in the game. The Raiders shot 15-of-33 (45.4%) from downtown.
Drake and Davis both had seven points early, matching one another with a three-ball and two buckets apiece. Wall, who matched McNeil Jr. with a team-high five triples, sank his first one.
Richmond led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter, but Union Pines (10-10, 2-7 SAC) cut its deficit to six points several times. Leading 44-38, the Raiders closed the final two minutes on an 11-0 run.
McNeil Jr., Wall and McNair each hit a triple and Drake pulled his career total to 999 points with a drive. At halftime, Richmond led 55-38 with McNeil Jr. (23 points) and Drake (12 points) already in double figures.
The third quarter featured a barrage of three-pointers for the Raiders, who totaled seven triples in eight minutes from Drake, McNeil Jr. and Wall.
Drake’s history-making basket came ealy in the quarter when McNeil Jr. slung a cross-court pass to an awaiting Drake in the right corner. Pulling up, Drake splashed down points 1,000-1,002 and head coach Donald Pettigrew called a timeout to recognize the achievement.
McNeil Jr. netted his final 13 points on a trio of triples and two field goals. Wall kept pace with his final 11 points, courtesy of three three-pointers and a bucket.
Adding a little flare, Drake dished a pass off the glass for an alley oop dunk to McNeil Jr. Davis added a bucket to give Richmond an 80-54 lead.
The fourth quarter featured a couple of breakaway jams for the Raiders, including one from Hamilton who passed the ball to himself and climbed up to the rim to reach the 100-point mark in the game.
McDonald followed that with his own one-handed jam for the Raiders’ final basket. The team’s 102 points marked the third 100+ point game this season (118 and 106).
The Vikings were led in scoring by Kingsley Donaldson (15 points), Zion Kiser (11 points) and Jaylen Kyle (nine points).
The first-place Raiders (17-5, 10-0 SAC) will play their final regular-season road game at Lee County High School (6-14, 2-7 SAC).
In their last meeting in January, McNeil Jr. dropped a single-game state record of 71 points. Action will start at 7:30 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: Unofficial game stats provided by assistant coach Keith Parsons. Deon Cranford also contributed to this article.
