RALEIGH — Just like in last season’s fourth-round playoff meeting, the Richmond Raider basketball team handled Jordan High School on Thursday.
Returning to play for the first time in nearly two weeks, the Raiders kicked off the opening round of the John Wall Holiday Invitational with a 77-62 victory over the Falcons.
Playing at Broughton High School, Richmond advanced to the semifinal round of the Devonte Graham bracket.
Dominating in the paint, the Raiders scored 48 points down low and added 21 points on second-chance opportunities. As a team, Richmond shot 30-for-70 from the field (42.9%).
Senior wing Paul McNeil Jr. led all scorers with a game-high 27 points. He added eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. McNeil Jr. finished shooting 50% from the field and went 10-for-14 from the line.
Senior shooting guard Jamarion Wall and junior forward Ahaiver McDonald both shot 4-of-10 from the field for 10 points apiece. Wall knocked down a pair of triples to lead the team and McDonald collected five rebounds.
Nine total Raiders found the basket in the win, including eight points each from senior point guard Javian Drake (six boards, three assists, two steals) and junior forward Keyonta Davis (4-for-4 shooting, three rebounds).
Senior center Braylon Barfield snagged a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with his two points. Sophomore guard Jayden Hamilton contributed four points and five rebounds.
The other scorers for the Raiders were senior David McNair (five points) and junior TyShawn Harris (three points).
McNeil Jr. scored the game’s first eight points to give the Raiders a lead they would never surrender. He scored three free throws, a three-pointer and a layup. Drake added his first two points to make it a 10-0 lead.
But following a Jordan timeout, the Falcons outscored the Raiders 12-2 and forced Richmond to take a timeout with 1:57 remaining in the first quarter.
Jordan’s Julian Lowe scored eight points early in the game, the last of which tied the game at 14-14. In the final two minutes of the first quarter, Richmond used a 6-2 run to take a 20-16 lead at the end of the opening stanza.
Drake scored on a putback to extend the lead to 22-16 to begin the second quarter. McNeil Jr. added two more points from the free throw line to put the Raiders up by eight points.
Making his eighth free throw of the first half, McNeil Jr. made it 27-16 with just under three minutes to go in the half.
Drake found Wall in transition for an easy bucket, and Drake followed that with his own drive on Richmond’s next possession.
One more free throw by McNeil Jr., coupled with a three-pointer by Wall with 13 seconds left, put Richmond up 35-23 at the break.
Building onto the lead early in the third quarter, McDonald and McNeil Jr. each laid in a transition basket. Barfield pulled down an offensive rebound and fed it to McNeil Jr. for two more points to extend the lead to 41-23.
Jordan (5-5) called a timeout, but McDonald answered with six points by himself with a pair of field goals and two free throws. That put Richmond ahead 47-29 midway through the third.
Lowe went on an 8-0 run to pull the Falcons within 14 points, but Richmond’s lead held 53-39 after three complete.
Davis and Wall both scored on second-chance opportunities early in the fourth quarter. McNair rattled in a three-pointer near the halfway mark of the final period.
Easy transition buckets from McNeil Jr. and Davis, coupled with a three-ball from Harris, closed out the victory.
Richmond’s best scoring run of 11 unanswered points and largest lead of the game (25 points) both came in the fourth quarter.
“We have to be better tomorrow night on the defensive end,” head coach Donald Pettigrew said. “Northwood is well-coached and we have to be ready to play all 32 minutes.”
Up next, the Raiders (7-2) will face Northwood High School (7-1) in the John Wall Holiday Invitational semifinals.
Friday’s meeting at 8 p.m. will feature the reigning 4A (Richmond) and 3A (Northwood) state runner-ups from last season.
Sports editor’s note: Stats and game information provided by Deon Cranford and the John Wall Holiday Invitational’s official scorers.
