CHAPEL HILL — After a year away from the postseason, the Richmond Senior High School girls basketball team is primed to make a deep run in 2024.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association released its final playoff brackets around 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Richmond received the No. 5 seed in the 4A East bracket.
It’s the program’s highest seed in the playoffs in head coach Teddy Moseley’s six seasons. Two years ago, the Lady Raiders were the No. 8 seed in the 4A East and made an exit in the second round.
The journey to Winston-Salem and a hopeful run to the 4A state title, which would be the program’s first, starts Tuesday with No. 28 Cleveland High School in the first round.
“I like the way it’s set up for us right now,” Moseley said of the seeding. “We still have to take it one game at a time and we can’t underestimate Cleveland, which seems like a tough team. They are here for a reason.
“We can only control what we can control, which is how we play,” he added. “What we’ve done so far has gotten us here, but now it’s time to survive and advance.”
Richmond’s best finish ever was as the 4A state runner-up during the 1988-89 season.
Should the Lady Raiders win their first-round game, they will have home-court advantage in the second round. Depending on how the bracket works out, they could potentially have a home game in the third round.
Ahead of the Lady Raiders in the 4A East seeding are No. 1 Hoggard, No. 2 Rolesville, No. 3 Panther Creek and No. 4 Willow Spring high schools.
Of Cleveland, Moseley said after watching film the Lady Rams “have a good freshman post player, they press play from the inside out,” which will require Richmond’s “post players to be ready to defend and not commit any fouls.”
Competing in the Greater Neuse River Conference, Cleveland and head coach Robby White finished with a 13-12 overall record. The Lady Rams placed fifth of eight teams in the conference standings with a 6-8 mark, the same conference as Willow Spring.
Cleveland has averaged 49.1 points per game and has two players averaging double-digit points per game — freshman Angelia Dunn (15.2 PPG) and junior Nevaeh Cannon (10.5 PPG).
Richmond brings with it a strong backcourt spearheaded by a pair of guards — junior Jamyia Lindsey and sophomore Jasiah Gilchrist.
Lindsey, who has scored the most points of any player in the 4A East, is tied with Taylor Barner (Panther Creek) for the classification’s scoring lead with 24.0 PPG. She’s also first in free throws made (146), second in field goals made (223), sixth in steals per game (4.2) and 10th in assists per game (3.7).
Gilchrist, who joined the team this season after transferring from Pinecrest High School, is averaging 13.8 points per game. Known also for her defensive skills, she’s tied for the 4A lead with 5.0 steals per game along with Alysia Pergerson (Middle Creek High School).
Another addition this season has been freshman forward Madisen Jackson, who leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game. She’s averaging 8.5 PPG and has added depth in the post and on defense.
“We’re more balanced this year,” Moseley said. “Two years ago we depended a lot on Juicy (Lindsey), but now we’re more balanced, especially defensively. We’re a year older and more mature. I like our chances if we play strong defense, which is our staple.”
“Jojo (Gilchrist) can lock down any other guard and Juicy can shoot against any other guard,” he continued. “Madisen has been tough in the middle and Rena (Drake) is a great utility player who puts up numbers in a lot of categories and does the dirty work.”
The Lady Raiders have averaged 59.5 PPG this season and enter the playoffs on a season-long 15-game winning streak. In their 22 wins, they have won by an average of 30.2 PPG.
Richmond has tallied a dozen victories of 30+ points and four wins of 40+ points. The team’s three largest point differentials have been 61 points (Southern Lee), 60 points (Hoke County) and 50 points (Southern Lee).
Winning the outright Sandhills Athletic Conference title for the second time in three seasons, the Lady Raiders went 12-0 in conference during the regular season. They followed that with a pair of wins over Lee County and Scotland high schools to win the SAC tournament crown.
While their winning has been by large margins this season, the Lady Raiders’ four losses have come against teams that are all seeded higher in the playoffs.
Those teams were No. 2 Cape Fear (3A East), No. 3 Panther Creek (4A East), No. 4 Myers Park (4A West) and Grace Christian School, which just won its third straight NCISAA state title.
“The whole reason behind our strength of schedule was to see what we would have to deal with in the playoffs,” Moseley explained. “I knew it would prepare us for conference, but the main reason was to get us ready for the playoffs.
“Look at the teams we faced,” he continued. “Myers Park is 24-2, Grace Christian just won a state championship and Panther Creek is a three seed. We faced some of the top teams in the state and know what to expect. Now we have to elevate our game.”
Hoping to rise to the challenge, Moseley said the expectations this postseason have been set by the team itself.
“We want to give it our best,” Moseley shared. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on the girls because we’re still a young team. It comes down to doing what we can do and playing defense.
“We’ll let the chips fall where they may, but the girls have set the bar high for themselves. They want excellence. At regionals last year they said ‘Coach we want to be here next year.’ They’ve put in the work, now it’s all about execution.”
Moseley pointed to the keys to a successful playoff run as playing defense and continuing to get production from Lindsey, Gilchrist and Jackson in the paint.
“Another big x-factor will be making free throws,” Moseley closed. “And being at home will be a huge benefit for us.”
The No. 5 Lady Raiders (22-4) will welcome in No. 28 Cleveland (13-12) Tuesday for the first round of the NCHSAA 4A state playoffs. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: This article was updated at 2:20 p.m. 02/25/24 to include the game’s start time.
