ROCKINGHAM — One of the most prolific senior classes in Richmond Raider basketball history got its 15 minutes of fame Friday.
Ahead of the opening tip of their regular-season finale victory over Scotland High School, the Raiders recognized six players during senior night.
Among those who played their final regular-season home game were, in alphabetical order, were — Braylon Barfield, Javian Drake, David McNair, Paul McNeil Jr., Jamarion Wall and Jada Zimmerman.
Also recognized were senior managers Ariel Granados and Libbie Parsons.
McNeil Jr. and Wall both played four seasons of varsity basketball, while Drake was a three-year varsity player for Richmond.
Also receiving a commemorative basketball, McNeil Jr. and Drake were honored for scoring their 2,000th and 1,000th career points, respectively.
With the outright regular-season Sandhills Athletic Conference title already in the bag, the Raiders rolled to a 104-66 victory over the Fighting Scots.
It marked just the second time in program history that Richmond went undefeated against all of its conference opponents. The other time was during last season’s 4A state runner-up campaign.
Following the introduction of the girls’ basketball team’s seniors, the six Raiders were called to half court. Each player was joined by family members and teammates, and received * from head coach Donald Pettigrew.
“This group has been so amazing,” Pettigrew said. “The growth, maturity and steps they’ve made to get better have been great. The last three or four years they’ve been so resilient and continued to compete. They’ve always been a coachable group.
“I tell them all the time to be proud to come from a little town like Richmond County, and they play with a chip on their shoulder. They don’t get bullied or back down, and I appreciate that so much.
“A lot of them have been playing together for so long, starting with AAU and Coach Taneika (Reader),” he continued. “It’s bittersweet because they’re like my kids. But I know it’s time for them to move onto the next chapter.
“We’ll definitely miss them, especially this community that showed them so much love the whole time. It was their last regular-season home but our journey together isn’t over.”
The Richmond Observer will publish results from Friday’s regular-season finale win soon, along with an article of the Lady Raider basketball team’s SAC championship-winning victory.
Click here to view photos of the Lady Raiders’ senior night celebration.
Below are photos from Friday’s boys’ basketball senior night taken by sports editor Kyle Pillar.
