ROCKINGHAM – For the second time in five days, the Richmond Senior High School Raiders varsity basketball team played an extra four minutes of overtime.
On Saturday, the Raiders survived New Life Christian Academy in the extra period. But they were on the opposite end of the mark Wednesday, as they were outscored 14-5 in overtime by visiting Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Lumberton High School. Richmond ultimately went on to lose to the Pirates 71-62.
But if the first three and a half quarters were an indication of Richmond’s play, it was a good one. The Raiders (7-14, 2-9 SAC) led at the end of the first three breaks, but a stagnant fourth-quarter shooting performance in which they only scored six points allowed the Pirates (10-11, 5-6 SAC) to knot the game up at 57 and send it to overtime.
“We had to take advantage of being an upper-man team tonight and we didn’t,” head coach Donald Pettigrew said following the game. “They (Lumberton) had some guys that were out, and we didn’t take advantage down the stretch. We didn’t find our mismatches.”
Eight lead changes, along with two ties, dominated the opening quarter, but it was Richmond that took an early 17-15 lead by quarter’s end. Junior guard Roderick Newton hit an early three-pointer, the first of his game-high six triples. Just moments later, a Newton steal and coast-to-coast layup, along with a Caleb Hood hard drive through the paint, gave Richmond a 12-11 lead with 1:10 to go.
Sophomore center Jarvis Tillman, who has been getting more playing time due to junior guard Xavier Pettigrew’s lingering tendinitis, had a solid quarter when he dropped five points on two putback jumpers and a subsequent free throw.
Lumberton’s sophomore guard Jordan McNeill and senior power forward Lacy Mitchell would prove to be the Raiders’ biggest obstacles. McNeill led all scorers with a game-high 27 points, including two three-pointers in the first quarter. Mitchell added 20 more points, netting four points in each of the five periods.
Richmond was consistent through the opening three frames, as it scored 17 points in all of them. The home team maintained the lead the entire second quarter, and held three different six-point leads over the Pirates.
Tillman added the final four points of his total in the opening 2:44 of the second, as he used his 6-7 frame to put back two buckets off offensive rebounds. Pettigrew played for the first time in several games, coming off the bench to drop two free throws to push the lead to 25-19 with 4:27 to go before the break.
Richmond closed out the first half with four field goals from four different shooters, including a Darrius Butler driving floater in the paint that ended in a successful and-one opportunity. Heading into the locker room, Richmond held onto a narrow 34-31 lead.
Perhaps the game’s best shooting performance for both teams occurred in the latter half of the third quarter. Lumberton obtained its first lead since the final minute of the first quarter when McNeill and Mitchell combined to go on an 8-2 run to switch the score to 39-36 in favor of the Pirates.
But then Newton and McNeill squared off in a three-point shooting clinic that saw the two net four combined triples (two each) within a 47 second span. Moments later, junior guard Malik Stanback kept the home crowd roaring with a splashdown of his own from no-man’s land, but only to be answered by a senior guard Stephon Lloyd triple. Newton ended the quarter’s scoring with 17 seconds left as he drained his fourth three-pointer of the frame.
In the shooting frenzy, both teams collected 17 points in the third quarter, and entered the fourth quarter with the same three-point margin on the scoreboard, 51-48.
But in a less-than-stellar shooting quarter for either team in the fourth, Lumberton was able to close the gap thanks to Mitchell. With 2:03 left in regulation, and following back-to-back tip ins by Pettigrew and a pair of Butler free throws that gave Richmond a 57-55 lead, Mitchell muscled his way into the paint to collect a loose ball and flip it into the cylinder to tie the game.
Both teams had several opportunities in the waning moments to seal the deal, but each would go scoreless to force overtime. Lumberton called a timeout with two seconds left and possession on its own baseline, and drew up an inbound toss to a dunking Mitchell that failed to connect.
And that’s when Mitchell and Lloyd took over. The pair of Pirates combined for 10 of their team’s 14 overtime points, and helped open the extra period on a 11-0 run. Newton stopped the bleeding with his final three-pointer with 38.8 seconds left, but the damage was done.
Newton led all Richmond scorers with 20 points, and got help from Pettigrew (10 points) and Tillman (nine points). Stanback and teammate Malik Flowers each chipped in six points.
An opportunity for redemption won’t have to wait long, as the Raiders will head to Lumberton Friday to finish the season series. Tipoff is set 7:30 p.m.
“Rod played well and I know he gave us all he had,” Pettigrew said of Newton. “Lumberton is always a tough place to play. And we’re going to keep practicing defense and get Xavier in better game shape for Friday.”
